Time To Face The Music
by multicolouredeyes
Summary: When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballad week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to her and they become friends.While Kurt tries to help Finn whilst battling his crush on the boy and a new revalation.Full Sum inside.SLASH.
1. Not All About Them

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee, just this little plunny here, there's a little bit of what you see during the episode at the beginning of the chapter as well as at the beginning of Puck so I don't own those little bits either, just the stuff around it.

**Warning: **Eventual Slash so no likey no ready (take me out reference)

**Summary: **When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballads week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to the unsuspecting girl and while everyone else is focussed on supporting Finn and Quinn over the whole baby thing, Mercedes offers her hand in friendship to the boy in need through song. Taking note of Mercedes' advice he Puck uses his own ballad to tell the world just who he is and what, or rather who he wants. Meanwhile, Kurt tries to help Finn with the whole baby fiasco as he also battles with the crush he has for the quarterback, all of which is only complicated further when he overhears Mercedes and Puck talking. Puck/ Kurt slash eventually.

* * *

**Time To Face The Music**

_Not All About Them_

_***_

**Puck POV:**

"Ballad," Mr. Schue said as he turned to face us, "From the middle English ballade. Who knows what this word means?"

"It's a male Duck," Brittany said from where she sat at the back and we all turned to look at her incredulously, Kurt and Rachael now with their hands up ready to answer the question.

"Kurt." Mr. Schue said pointing at the teen who I thought was perhaps the most beautiful person I'd ever seen.

"A ballad is a love song."

"Sometimes," Mr. Schue replied, "But they don't always express love. Ballads are stories set to music which is why they're the perfect storm of self expression. Stories in music are the way we express feelings that we can't get out any other way. Okay, sectionals are in a few weeks and there's a new rule this year, we have to perform a ballad."

"Looks like my weekly letter to the Ohio show choir committee finally paid off," Rachael interrupted in that excited way that makes me want to just set myself on fire and I wondered, not for the first time this afternoon, why it was exactly that I was sitting next to her when I could be across the other side of the room sat next to Kurt.

"Okay, so here's our assignment for the week. I'm gonna pair you off and I want you to pick a ballad to sing to your partner. Look them right in the eye, find the emotion you want to express and make them feel it."

"I pick Quinn," Finn stated, Mr. Schue just shook his head in reply.

"No, no, no, too easy. You're partners will be chosen by fate." Everyone ooohed at that, a mixture of excitement and worry emanating from us all I was sure, after all we were all likely hoping to be paired with one particular person, or indeed dreading being paired with someone we didn't really get on with.

"I put all your names in this hat," Schue continued holding up one of those old style top hats, "Whoever you choose is your partner."

"I bet the duck's in the hat," Brittany whispered but we all brushed it aside as Santana, though I loathe admitting it, pointed out something pretty significant.

"Mr. Schue, Matt's out sick today, he had to go to the hospital because they found a spider in his ear," She stated and we all grimaced a little, feeling sorry for Matt.

"Well I guess I'll just have to put my name in the hat for now. Who's up first?"

I jumped up straight away, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible and desperately hoping that I picked Kurt, or at least my best friend Quinn out of the hat for this assignment, wanting an excuse to finally tell Kurt how I felt without actually coming out and telling him, which I was sure I'd never have the courage to do. I put my hand in the hat, pulling out the first name I got hold of and sighed in disappointment as I read out the name.

"Mercedes."

It went on like that with Wheelchair kid picking Quinn, Finn picking Kurt, which of course had Kurt smiling away and my blood boiling as I watched Kurt go all starry eyed over Finn. What did he even see in him?

Goth girl and Mike were paired off as were Brittany and Santana leaving Mr. Schue, and later Matt if he returned, to have to deal with psycho-girl, a fate I had luckily escaped. Mercedes I had to admit wasn't a bad choice, certainly a lot better than having Rachael, Santana or Brittany and she was a pretty decent singer so I didn't think this week would go too badly, choosing a song to sing, something that would expose my feelings to someone who was practically a stranger to me was going to be a difficult barrier to cross though.

I was brought out of my thoughts as wheelchair kid asked a question that I was sure was on all of our minds.

"Would you mind clarifying what type of songs you want us to sing?"

"Why don't you let Mr. Schuester and I demonstrate? Brad, Endless Love in B flat if you will?" Rachael asked and Brad began to play the familiar tune for them to sing. It was odd to watch them singing together, I mean sure it was a great choice to show what a Ballad really was but Mr. Schue looked really uncomfortable and Rachael was going all psycho again, I think maybe she has a crush on the Spanish teacher and I could only feel sorry for him as we watched the scene unfold before us.

"Okay, something like that," Mr. Schue said as the song ended, everyone got up then to arrange practise times and the like and I guessed that I would have to do the same with Mercedes. Apparently though, she'd already decided when, where and how we were doing this as she made her way over to me, all but poking me in the chest like you see in the movies.

"Meet me here tomorrow after school, I want to get this over with as soon as possible," She stated before turning and going to join the rest of the gleeks, well technically I'm a gleek as well but... ah to hell with it, I was seriously starting to lose it, especially as I looked over to that group and realised that I actually quite liked most of them, especially Kurt, but then that was hardly surprising considering the massive crush I'd had on him for the past two years, but that was neither here nor there. The point was, I was a gleek and I had to learn to stop distinguishing myself from them if I wanted to be part of the team, a proper member of the club.

"Hey Puck," I was pulled from my thoughts as Finn made his way over to me, "Do you wanna come round to mine tonight, just to hang out, have pizza and play video games, that kinda thing? I mean ever since you know the whole baby thing we haven't really had a guys night and I kinda just need a break from it all, you can crash if you want." He asked in one big rambling sentence. He'd started talking like that ever since he'd found out about Quinn, I think his brain was suffering some sort of overload what with football, glee and now this...he looked like he could really use a break, some time to just have fun and forget about everything else and if I was honest, I needed it too.

"Sure, we might have to swing by mine first though so I can grab a change of clothes for the morning and let my mom know where I'll be." I replied with a smile and he seemed to sigh in relief.

"Yea, no problem."

It wasn't long before we were in my old beaten up truck making the short drive to my house.

"Hey mom," I said as I walked into the kitchen where she was sat helping my little sister with her homework, "Is it okay if I stay round Finn's tonight?"

"Sure honey, just be sure to get some sleep while you're there, it is a school night after all." She replied and after kissing her on the cheek with a quick "Thank you" and grabbing my clothes from my room we were back in the truck and making our way over to Finn's house for the night.

_***_

Staying at Finn's had been exactly the distraction I'd needed to keep my mind off of what was going on with me and the whole gay thing as well as the whole Quinn/Finn/baby situation. Of course the distraction didn't last and the next morning I was feeling worse about the whole thing then I had before.

I was finally realising that it wasn't just me being affected by this whole situation and it made me feel ten times as bad about lying to my best friend, besides Quinn that is, knowing that there was so much he could have been spared if we hadn't been so foolish, so unequipped, and totally unprepared for the consequences of our actions.

I hated myself for the whole woe is me thing I was doing but I just couldn't seem to bring myself out of it before and even now I wasn't really out of it so much as adding an extra helping of guilt on top of my crazy life pie.

As I coasted through the day I found myself completely unable to even look at Finn or even Quinn and felt myself withdrawing into myself as I walked from class to class, barely concentrating on what the teachers were saying or anything really as the pressure built and built.

By the time my ballads meeting with Mercedes came around I felt like I was ready to burst, to lash out at someone, to throw them in the garbage or slushie someone, like I used to do, like I hadn't done in months, ever since I'd joined glee club.

My brain was working overtime to try and work out how exactly I was supposed to fix my latest screw-up that I hadn't really registered where I was until Mercedes walked into the music room, talking on the phone.

"We're supposed to be rehearsing," I stated, but she just ignored me, carrying on her conversation with "Tina" she told me before finally hanging up.

"This is bad dude, all of our ballads are terrible because we're all so distracted. We're all worried about Finn and Quinn and baby gate, we can't even sing about our emotions because we're so worried about theirs."

"Who cares?" I asked trying to be the badass I was known to be, desperately hoping that she would stop talking about the one thing that was driving me completely crazy.

"Umm, we all do," She replied, "So we decided we're all going to sing them a ballad to show them that we got their backs."

"Are you kidding me? There's no way I'm singing to them." I let out a frustrated sigh that sounded more like a growl to my ears as I turned away, "Finn gets all the sympathy all the support..."

"What is your problem?" Mercedes asked incredulously.

"Finn's not the father...I am," I stated and that was it. It was like the dam had finally broken and the water just started flooding out.

"What?"

I felt the tears coming before they even started to fall, but I'd already turned away from her, not wanting her to see poor little weak Noah Puckerman.

"It's not like I even like Quinn,"

"No of course not, she's just another notch on the bedpost, one more to add to the string of girls..."

"It's not like that. Contrary to popular belief I don't sleep around, I'd never...not before Quinn," I whispered, I'd though perhaps it was too quiet for her to hear but I was wrong.

"Yeah right,"

"It's true, Quinn, no-one knows this but she's my best friend, more than Finn even. She offered...it was just supposed to be a test...it wasn't supposed to end up like this." I stated, incoherent even to me.

"You're not making a lot of sense you know," Mercedes said, her tone softer now, concerned even, probably from the shock of seeing me, the asshole jock completely break down in front of her but I just couldn't bring myself to care about what she thought of me then, about what it was doing to my reputation, one that I completely despised. It just felt so good to finally get it all off my chest.

"She offered to sleep with me to help me, we never meant for this to happen and now everything's so messed up."

"Why would Quinn sleeping with you help you?"

"It was a test, to find out...so that I could work out if I was..." I trailed off, suddenly aware of what exactly I was doing.

"If you were...?" Mercedes prompted and I gave in, I finally let myself admit what I'd been trying to hide from people for nearly two years.

"To work out if I was gay or not," I stated, turning to look at the first person besides Quinn to ever find out that particular fact about me.

"If you were...gay?"

I couldn't bring myself to say anything so I just nodded, and watched as she slumped down on the piano stool.

"And are you?" she asked after a while. Another nod.

"I was thinking about a guy the whole time we were...you know..." I stated as I slid down the wall to sit on the floor, elbows resting on my knees as I covered my face with my hands.

"So you're the father of Quinn's baby but you're gay?"

"Yep."

"Well hell, your life is all kinds o' crazy," She muttered, more to herself than me but I still heard it.

I laughed bitterly as I looked up at her, the tears had finally stopped falling but I know I looked a mess.

"Well, I think you should still sing with us, if not for Finn, then for Quinn, she's carrying your baby after all, she needs to know that you're going to support her no matter what happens."

I nodded again, she was right after all, Quinn was my best friend and she needed me, whatever I was going through with the whole baby thing, she was too.

"So who was it you were picturing while you and Quinn were...you know?" Mercedes asked for a while and I couldn't help but laugh along with her as the tension I'd been feeling all day just seemed to melt away like it had last night, even for just a little while and immediately I was glad that I'd told her, glad that she'd been there to listen when I needed someone the most.

"You won't believe it." I stated once I'd stopped laughing long enough to actually get a sentence out.

"Try me."

"Kurt."

"No way, really?"

"Yep, the one and only Kurt Hummel; who I just happen to have had a crush on for nearly two years."

"Oh my God, I don't believe this...but what about all the slushies and the dumpster?" She asked on a more serious note.

"I was in denial, blaming Kurt for having these gay feelings so I took it out on him. Ever since I joined Glee though and since the whole thing with Quinn I kinda just embraced it, I stopped fighting who I really am. That's why I stopped throwing him in the dumpster and throwing slushies at you all." I replied.

"Why don't you tell Kurt how you feel?"

"Two reasons, firstly besides you and Quinn no-one knows that I'm gay and secondly I don't stand a chance with him. He hates me, and with just cause as well, I was a complete asshole to him for no reason and I don't deserve to be with him for it, and besides he's completely in love with Finn and I just don't compare, even though I happen to be gay and actually like Kurt as opposed to straight and into Rachael and Quinn."

"You have a point about Kurt liking Finn, but I think you're nice enough, when you want to be that is, and when you're not being a complete idiot. If you show Kurt that, if you try to be his friend rather than being a complete asshole then he might see what's right in front of him." Mercedes said with a smile that I found myself returning. I realised that in the past I'd passed judgement on the cover rather than the book, and way too quickly at that and was glad that I'd had the opportunity to actually talk to her, and damn did she give some good advice.

We spent the rest of the time when we should have been practising, just talking about everything and nothing, getting to know each other as friends rather than enemies, completely forgetting about the ballads that we should have been focusing on, knowing that we still had time during the rest of that week.

I left the music room with a lot to think about, and feeling completely and utterly drained, emotionally so more that physically and pretty much fell asleep as soon as I was in my room.

* * *

And voila...Glee fic number one. Ever since I watched Glee I just knew I had to write a Purt fic and here it is. I know it's mostly just Puck and Mercedes interaction in this chapter but their friendship is going to play a big part in this fic. Next chapter will be Kurt POV, these first two chapters are mostly going to be like introductory chapters, merging Glee the original with my version and then the rest will follow on from there. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it and as always comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Multi x


	2. I Honestly Don't Know What To Do

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee, just this little plunny here, there's a little bit of what you see during the episode in this chapter so I don't own that, just the stuff around it.

**Warning: **Eventual Slash so no likey no ready (take me out reference)

**Summary: **When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballads week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to the unsuspecting girl and while everyone else is focussed on supporting Finn and Quinn over the whole baby thing, Mercedes offers her hand in friendship to the boy in need through song. Taking note of Mercedes' advice he Puck uses his own ballad to tell the world just who he is and what, or rather who he wants. Meanwhile, Kurt tries to help Finn with the whole baby fiasco as he also battles with the crush he has for the quarterback, all of which is only complicated further when he overhears Mercedes and Puck talking. Puck/ Kurt slash eventually.

* * *

**Time To Face The Music**

_I Honestly...Don't Know What To Do_

_***_

**Kurt POV:**

I stood there, completely shocked at what I'd just overheard. I'd just wanted to talk to Mercedes and Puck about the song we were going to sing Finn and Quinn, Lean On Me, to show them that we were there for them, that we would support them through this little drama, when I heard Puck and Mercedes having what I'd assumed was a heated discussion about their ballads but as I stood there outside the door I heard something that completely shocked me.

"Finn's not the Dad...I am," Still echoed in my mind as I turned and all but ran to the auditorium for my rehearsal with Finn, one question on my mind...what the hell do I tell him?

"Hey Kurt," Finn said as I walked into the auditorium, where he'd obviously been waiting for me.

"Hi Finn, sorry I'm late I got a little...side tracked," I replied with a sheepish smile, when really I just wanted to blurt out everything I'd heard, which was admittedly very little, but I didn't. It wasn't my place to tell him, that was Quinn and Puck's job and besides I didn't want to be the one to hurt him like that, to be the bringer of bad tidings, so I held my tongue, plastered on a fake smile and just got on with our rehearsal.

We pulled up to of the stools and sat facing each other.

"Sing to me everything you feel," I stated once we were in position.

"Okay, uuuh...I can't," Finn replied in frustration, "I can't sing to a dude."

My heart ached a little at that, my foolish crush on the straight jock once again flaring it's ugly head and I cursed my own stupidity, not for the first time, for getting my hopes up just because he was nice to me sometimes, but the heart was a stubborn thing and once it's locked on something, it takes something big to change how it feels.

"You have to try," I replied meekly.

"I can't okay," He yelled standing up from his chair, "I can't. I'm sick and tired of people pushing me to be somebody I'm not." He finished, breathing hard.

"You're lashing out at me is fantastically compelling and inappropriate."

"Dude I'm sorry," Finn replied dejectedly, "You're really awesome Kurt, I'm just under a load of crap right now."

"Girls," I replied, "They're your problem, they're up, and they're down, girls."

"It's the baby," Finn replied, sitting on the piano stool, "She's my daughter and there's so many things that I want to say to her and I'm never going to be able to."

"Like what?" I asked as I sat next to him on the piano stool.

"Like how I don't want her to think that her father just abandoned her, how I would do anything for her, how no matter what I do I'm always thinking about her, how I'm gonna spend my whole life loving her and she's never even gonna know."

"You gotta let it out," I said laying a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"How?"

"By singing," I replied with a smile, "I'll stand by you, by The Pretenders, it's in your will house and I know you know it from the radio because it's a classic, and you do well with classics, especially in the soft rock mode."

"Yea I do like that song but how's it gonna make me feel better again?"

"By singing it out, to the audience," I replied bringing him with me as I stood up, "Imagine your little girl is sitting right there," I stated, pointing out to the middle of the seating area," I continued before turning and heading back over to the piano, "thank God I never missed a piano lesson," I muttered to myself before sitting on the stool and beginning to play the song.

I smiled as I heard Finn's voice float through the auditorium, the song perfect for what he wanted to say to his daughter.

_Oh, why you look so sad? Tears are in your eyes  
Come on and come to me now.  
Don't be ashamed to cry, let me see you through  
'Cause I've seen the dark side too._

_When the night falls on you, you don't know what to do,  
Nothing you confess could make me love you less  
I'll stand by you, I'll stand by you, won't let nobody hurt you,  
I'll stand by you._

_So, if you're mad get mad, don't hold it all inside,  
Come on and talk to me now.  
And hey, what you got to hide? I get angry too;  
well I'm a lot like you._

_When you're standing at the crossroads, don't know which path to choose,  
Let me come along, 'cause even if you're wrong  
I'll stand by you, I'll stand by you, won't let nobody hurt you,  
I'll stand by you.  
Take me into your darkest hour, and I'll never desert you.  
I'll stand by you._

_And when, when the night falls on you, baby, you're feeling all alone,  
you won't be on your own, I'll stand by you. I'll stand by you,  
I'll stand by you, won't let nobody hurt you. I'll stand by you  
Take me in into your darkest hour and I'll never desert you  
I'll stand by you._

After I played the last notes of the song I wiped away the tears that had fallen from my cheeks and turned to face Finn.

"That was amazing Finn," I said with a smile as I looked up at him and he smiled back, "Thanks Kurt, you're right it did help."

"No problem, anyway I think we're done here for one day, I'll see you tomorrow for the next one?"

"Yea sure, we can work on your song, anyway I better be going, I've got a load of homework that I need to do."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." And with that he was gone, leaving me with an awful lot to think about when I got home.

I couldn't believe that Puck and Quinn had done this to Finn, not only had they betrayed him by sleeping together in the first place but then they proceeded to lie to him about being the father of Quinn's baby, something I knew would nearly destroy Finn emotionally when he found out, even more so than the original betrayal, as he'd begun to love the baby as his own and was already cut up about having to give the baby up for adoption as Quinn wanted.

I was sure that Puck being the father had a lot to do with Quinn's decision, but I could also sympathise with her choice, even if I did despise her for what she had done to Finn, after all, I was sure that I wouldn't be able to cope if I had found myself in her and Finn's position, not that it would ever happen of course, unless the male gender was suddenly able to carry children which was about as likely as pigs flying.

As I was thinking about this whole situation I wondered what had caused Puck to tell Mercedes about being the father. They weren't exactly friends and it wasn't something that you would just go about broadcasting to anyone and everyone, so there had to have been some sort of trigger, some reason. It was likely that his impending fatherhood and all the secrets and lies had finally become too much for the teen and he'd just blurted it out, and of course the whole aim of Mr. Schuster's little assignment had been to sing about our emotions, which was probably what tipped Puck over the edge.

There was one thing I was certain about in this whole mess, Finn couldn't find out until Quinn or Puck told him themselves, which meant both Mercedes and I would have to keep this to ourselves.

With that decision made, I slipped into bed, mentally exhausted from all this baby drama, and fell straight asleep.

_***_

At lunch the next day I walked into the choir room to hear Santana filling the rest of the group gathered there in on what I had only discovered the day before. Apparently Puck wasn't the only one folding under the pressure and telling the strangest, and probably the worst on Quinn's part, people about their latest drama.

Luckily Finn, Quinn, Puck and even Mercedes weren't here as I was sure each and every one of them would have had a thing or two to say to Santana about telling everyone. I myself was outraged that she was filling them all in, but then of course it was Quinn's own fault for stupidly telling the girl with the biggest mouth in the school about it.

Luckily Santana, loathe as I was to say it, was smart enough to keep it within Glee club, and indeed what she said next just proved it, as it was exactly what I was about to chime in with myself.

"Finn can't find out," She said as she looked around the group, "I know I'm telling all of you but that's only because if I didn't tell someone I would explode and I know I can trust you guys with this, but I know Quinn would hate me if anyone other than her told Finn so you have to keep this to yourselves."

"I have to say I agree with Santana, it's up to Quinn and Puck to tell him and that means no-one else can know, especially not Rachael because we all know she'll run straight to Finn and tell him." I stated, startling some who hadn't noticed my arrival, too enthralled by Santana's tale to take in much else.

Everyone nodded in agreement just as the bell rang and we all dispersed to our final lessons of the day, but just as I was leaving the choir room I was stopped by Finn.

"Hey Kurt, I was wondering if you could help me with something tonight, you see I've got to go to the Fabray's and I need something to wear and I know how good you are with fashion and stuff so I was just wondering if you could come round and help me pick something out?" He asked.

"Yea sure, I'll be happy to help." I replied. We arranged to meet up after school and I would just follow him home in my car.

_***_

I felt honoured to be helping Finn out, after all there were numerous girls who knew about fashion, granted I was a far superior fountain of knowledge on the subject, but still he didn't have to choose me but he did. It felt good to be helping him out with the whole situation, even if I did have ulterior motives, I was getting to spend time with him as I helped him chose his outfit and then a song which would express what he was finding difficult to tell the Fabrays.

Either way I had a strong feeling that everything would go well for Finn with this whole baby situation, even after the panicked phone call I received whilst trying to do some ironing.

I guess that's why the next day as I sat in the auditorium with Finn for our next ballad rehearsal I was shocked to hear what had happened the night before at the Fabrays' house.

"So they just kicked her out?" I asked as I put the CD in the player and sat down on the stool in front of Finn.

"Yea, gave her half an hour to pack, her father set the timer on the microwave." Finn replied dejectedly.

In all honesty I didn't know whether to feel sorry for her or glad that she was being punished for what she was doing to Finn, in the end I realised that no-one really deserves to be thrown out of the house by their won parents, the people you're supposed to be able to rely on no matter what.

"I'm sorry," I stated, feeling somewhat responsible for my contribution in having her thrown out, after all I was the one who helped Finn find a way to tell her parents, "I guess my plan kinda sucked."

"No, this is good, no more secrets you know, everything's out there; all the feelings and that's better right?"

I felt yet another pang of guilt as thoughts of what I'd overheard only a few days ago flooded my mind, and I knew that when Finn finally found out he would be heartbroken, after all it was yet another secret.

"Yes, better."

"Good. Right, well let's work on your ballad, you were really helpful when I was trying to find mine so what is it?"

"I honestly love you." I replied.

"That...sounds awesome, I don't know the song or whatever but it sounds positive and nice and stuff," He replied nervously.

Luckily we were both spared any further embarrassment and uncomfortableness, if that was even a word, as Mercedes chose that moment to walk in.

"Hey you two, we need to go to the choir room." She said happily.

"Why?" Finn asked.

"Because there's something we want to give you and Quinn," I replied as I placed my arm around Mercedes' shoulders.

Finn looked at us in confusion for a moment before standing and following us to the choir room.

"Open your eyes," Mercedes said as we entered the room her arm linked with Finn's, "No-one told you to close your eyes."

"Is there a cake?" Finn asked hopefully as he opened his eyes.

"No, there's no cake." Mercedes replied with a chuckle, "Now go ahead and sit down there next to Quinn."

"Do you know what's going on?" I heard Finn ask Quinn as I took my position with the others.

"Your fellow glee club members would like to sing you a song to let you know how they feel about you." Mr. Schuster said as he looked at the couple.

"What are you going to sing?" Finn asked.

"Just listen," Rachael replied, "The song says everything."

Mr. Schuster moved then, turning to face us as we began to sing.

_(Hum hum hum hum hum)_

_Sometime in our lives we all have pain  
We all have sorrow  
But if we are wise we know that there's  
Always tomorrow_

_Lean on me when you're not strong and  
I'll be your friend  
I'll help you carry on  
For it won't be long till I'm gonna need  
Somebody to lean on_

_Just call on me brother when you need a hand  
We all need somebody to lean on  
I just might have a problem that you'd understand  
We all need somebody to lean on_

_Lean on me when you're not strong  
And I'll be your friend  
I'll help you carry on  
For it won't be long till 'm gonna need  
Somebody to lean on_

_If there is a load you have to bear  
That you can't carry  
I'm right up the road, I'll share your load  
if you just call me_

_(Call me, call me, call me,)_

_when you need a friend  
when you need a friend..._

_It won't be long till I'm gonna need  
somebody to lean on, lean on, lean on_

_Lean on me, lean on me, lean on, lean on, leans on me_

_I'm gonna need somebody to lean on_

_I'm gonna need somebody to lean on_

The song finished and both Quinn and Finn looked like they were fighting back the tears. I was glad then that we had decided to do this for them, even after we found out about Puck being the father, because despite that they would both need our support through the coming months.

_***_

That evening Mercedes and I had decided to have a bit of a 'girlie' sleepover and I thought that it was the perfect opportunity for me to tell Mercedes about what I had overheard and that Santana had told the rest of Glee, apart from Rachael and Finn that was.

"Mercedes, you know the other day when you and Puck were rehearsing?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well I was just popping over to talk to you guys about singing Lean On Me and I kinda overheard something I really wish I hadn't." I stated sheepishly.

"You mean...?" She asked slightly alarmed.

"Yes, I know about Puck being the father of Quinn's baby, and so does everyone else in Glee, but not because I told them. It would appear that Quinn also felt the need to confide in someone, it's just a shame that she confided in the wrong person, Santana. Luckily I arrived in time to contain the situation so that the rest of the school doesn't find out, specifically Rachael and Finn, after all it's up to Quinn and Puck to tell him before it's too late."

"Oh Lord, Puck isn't going to like this...you didn't hear anything else from our conversation did you?" She asked suspiciously and if it was possible even more alarmed that before.

"No, I left after I heard that, I didn't really want to know anymore about Puck and Quinn's betrayal."

"It's not like that Kurt, you don't know all the facts so you shouldn't judge them, or at least Puck, he's in a really bad place right now and he really wants to tell Finn but Quinn won't let him."

"Oh yes I'm sure he's a regular Good Samaritan."

"That's not what I said, but if you want the truth he's actually a really nice guy once you get to know him, even just a little bit, once you see passed the badass jock exterior that is. I mean you can't deny the proof that he's changed...when was the last time he threw you in the dumpster or called you something that wasn't Hummel or Kurt, hell he doesn't even use Hummel anymore."

I was shocked that Mercedes was so readily defending the jock, but she'd never really been wrong before and as I searched through all of my memories from when Puck first joined Glee club to now I realised that she was right, Puck's whole attitude had changed, if only slightly in his eyes, but changed all the same. I was shocked that I hadn't really noticed before now, but I guess the fact that the other Neanderthals still did those things I hadn't really noticed that he'd stopped.

"You're right." I said.

"Of course I'm right. Anyway there's a lot of stuff going on with him most of which has to do with the whole thing with the baby, and the reason why he and Quinn even...you know in the first place, so just cut him some slack okay."

"Okay, what about Quinn though?"

"I'm not really sure about her to be honest, I'm going to talk to her tomorrow but...I don't know what help it will be. I hope she decides to tell Finn before anyone else does, I know Puck is seriously considering just ignoring Quinn's decision and tell Finn himself."

"Well, I think that's quite enough drama for one evening, what do you say we watch cabaret and eat some of the Haagen-Dazs I have in the fridge?"

"Cookie Dough?"

"When is it not?" We laughed as we headed up the stairs to the kitchen to grab the ice cream before finally settling down in my basement to watch the movie; of course we fell asleep as we lay there on the floor as soon as the movie ended.

_***_

The next morning I was surprised when, as Mercedes and I walked through the corridors of William McKinley High, Noah 'Puck' Puckerman smiled at me, and i mean a sweet, nice, genuine smile...not the usual smirk one would associate with him.

"Morning Mercedes, Kurt," He said quietly.

"Good morning Puck," Mercedes replied, before he continued to walk down the corridor, leaving me to stand there gaping like a fish at his retreating back. Things were certainly starting to get very strange around here, and there was one thing I was certain about, this year was definitely going to be interesting and I had a front row seat and I was buckled in and ready for the ride.

"Come on Kurt," Mercedes said as she grabbed hold of my arm and all but dragged me over to our lockers, "I'm going to try and find Quinn at lunch, I want to talk some sense into that girl, get her to see that it's not all about her. I mean sure it's happening to her, but it's happening to Puck and to Finn as well considering she hasn't told him."

"Sounds like a plan," I replied, finally shaken out of my Puck induced stupor as the bell rang, "Anyway I have maths so I'll see you later," I finished turning in the direction of the maths classroom.

"Yea, laters," I heard Mercedes say behind me as I walked away, hoping against all odds that she could talk some sense into Quinn before Finn and, reluctant as I am to say it, Puck get hurt. With that last thought I plastered on a big smile and prepared to face another, most likely drama filled, day at William McKinley High.

* * *

Well there's chapter 2. I know that in the actual episode that first scene with Kurt and Finn happens before Puck tells Mercedes but I think it works better if it happens after :) I hope you enjoyed it anyway and all comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated. Just a few notices about the fic, there were a few questions raised about the speed in which Puck spills his heart out to Mercedes, but the way I see it, Puck has had enough of all the secrets and lies etc, he's reached breaking point and once he'd started he just couldn't stop talking because he felt relieved to be finally getting it off his chest, even though he didn't really know Mercedes etc. Also a quick note on the fact that the choir room and the music room for this fic are two different rooms, just in case anyone was confused by that.

Multi x


	3. That's What Friends Are For?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee, just this little plunny here, there's a little bit of what you see during the episode in this chapter so I don't own that, just the stuff around it.

**Warning: **Eventual Slash so no likey no ready (take me out reference)

**Summary: **When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballads week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to the unsuspecting girl and while everyone else is focussed on supporting Finn and Quinn over the whole baby thing, Mercedes offers her hand in friendship to the boy in need through song. Taking note of Mercedes' advice he Puck uses his own ballad to tell the world just who he is and what, or rather who he wants. Meanwhile, Kurt tries to help Finn with the whole baby fiasco as he also battles with the crush he has for the quarterback, all of which is only complicated further when he overhears Mercedes and Puck talking. Puck/Kurt slash eventually.

**A/N: **Glee Club in this story meets three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Having said that in the second chapter the Wednesday meeting was not a formal one because Mr. Schue was giving them time to practise their ballads, they then chose to sing Lean On Me on Thursday :)

* * *

**Time To Face The Music**

_That's What Friends Are For?_

_***_

**Puck POV:**

Today was a great day. I'd decided to embrace the advice Mercedes had given to me on Monday and just try to be Kurt's friend, or at least I would have if I'd actually seen him. I mean sure I saw him and Mercedes this morning, boy was he surprised when I said good morning to him, but other than that...nada. We hadn't even had any classes together. It was slightly frustrating but I wasn't going to let it affect my good mood, not after being so miserable for what seemed like forever, but was only probably a few weeks.

I knew I couldn't rush this, I had to let it come about naturally, get to know him properly. I smiled happily as I thought about finally being a part of Kurt's life, that he didn't hate, and was surprised when as I neared the open door of the music room I could distinctly hear Mercedes and Quinn talking, and it didn't take a genius to guess what.

"Quinn, I know about Puck being the father and you know...that he's g..." Mercedes was cut off by Quinn.

"Don't say that. He's not gay, he's just confused, but don't you worry me and Santana are going to cure him."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Cure me? I was in shock. How could she, Quinn my supposed best friend do this to me? I didn't register the fact that the slushie I was holding slipped out of my hand until it hit the floor and Quinn and Mercedes looked towards the door.

"Puck!" I heard Mercedes calling after me but I didn't stop as I ran through the halls to the only place I knew of where I could be alone. I crashed through the doors and sunk down onto the floor as soon as I entered the room.

For what must be the hundredth time I felt the tears falling down my face and I cursed myself for being so weak, yet unable to do anything about it. A few moments after I'd entered the room I heard the door open but didn't look up, assuming that it was Mercedes coming to check on me.

I'd been wrong of course as Mercedes came running into the room almost a minute later and kneeled on the floor next to me, her arms wrapping around my shoulders as she pulled me to her, in much the same way my mom used to, and began to rock me.

"How could she do this to me?" I asked as I clung onto her, "She's supposed to be my best friend... what she said... I don't need curing do I?" I asked uncertainly as the tears continued to fall, soaking the t-shirt she was wearing, "I'm not sick. It's not an illness."

"No sweetie; being gay isn't an illness. There's nothing wrong with you...just her. She manipulated you into sleeping with her because she has a problem. You can't beat yourself up about this baby thing and you sure as hell can't let her get to you like this. You're wonderful just the way you are; you don't need to change a thing."

I clung onto her more when I heard this. How could someone, who I'd treated so badly, be so kind and understanding?

"Hey, I know we were supposed to practise our ballads today so why don't I sing mine now?" Mercedes asked as she continued to rock me, all I could do was nod as she started singing.

_This is a crazy world  
These can be lonely times  
It's hard to know who's on your side  
Most of the time_

_Who can you really trust  
Who do you really know  
Is there anybody out there  
Who can make you feel less alone  
Sometimes you just can't make it on your own_

_If you need a place where you can run  
If you need a shoulder to cry on  
I'll always be your friend_

_When you need some shelter from the rain  
When you need a healer for your pain  
I will be there time and time again  
When you need someone to love you  
Here I am, hmmm_

_If you have broken dreams  
Just lay them all on me  
I'll be the one who understands  
So take my hand_

_If there is emptiness_

_You know I'll do my best  
To fill you up with all the love  
That I can show someone  
I promise you you'll never walk alone_

_Well if you need a place where you can run  
If you need a shoulder to cry on  
I'll always be your friend_

_When you need some shelter from the rain  
When you need a healer for your pain  
I will be there time and time again  
When you need someone to love you  
Here I am, oooo_

_Everybody needs somebody who  
They can pour their heart and soul into_

_Well if you need a place where you can run  
If you need a shoulder to cry on  
I'll always be your friend_

_When you need some shelter from the rain  
When you need a healer for your pain  
I will be there time and time again  
When you need someone to love you  
Here I am, Here I am_

My crying had increased tenfold by the time she'd finished. How could someone I barely know be so supportive of who I am when my so-called best friend wants to cure me? My life was so messed up and right now there was only one decision I made this year that I don't regret, and that's joining Glee. After all, if I hadn't I would be left on my own, or at least still believing that Quinn was my friend while the whole time she was stabbing me in the back.

I pulled away from Mercedes, wiping my face on my wife-beater before looking up at the only person I knew I could call friend, even after all this baby stuff is out in the open, only to do a double take as my eyes fell upon not only her but Kurt as well. That's when I remembered that someone else had walked in before Mercedes had entered and that person was obviously Kurt, who now sat there, eyes wide in that cute little Bambi like way that they go when he's shocked by some new piece of gossip or when he's excited about a new song that we're doing for glee or... I pulled my mind out of its Kurt induced meltdown as the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and the time for me to pull myself together and head out to class like my usual badass self.

"I'll...um...see you guys at glee I guess," I said looking back at Kurt and Mercedes as I stood up, offering my hand to Mercedes to help her up, it was the least I could do after all she'd done for me so far this week.

"Yea, we'll see you then, just remember that even if everyone else is still focusing on Finn and Quinn, I've got your back you've got a friend in me." She replied hugging me one more time while Kurt just stood there, that same confused and slightly dazed look on his face, even as Mercedes grabbed hold of his arm and quick marched him right out of the choir room and to whatever class they had next.

I was grateful because it meant I had a few moments on my own to sort myself out before I left the choir room and headed to my Lit class.

***

I found myself once again floating through the rest of the day, my good mood after last night's talk with Mercedes chased away by the betrayal of my once best friend. In a way though I was glad that I knew, even though it hurt, and it certainly helped me to finally make a decision on the thing that had been plaguing me for the last few weeks.

If Quinn wasn't going to tell Finn, if she was just going to string him along, use him, betray him as she had with me, then I wasn't just going to stand by and watch her do it...not anymore. I was going to tell him, tonight. At glee I was going to ask him if he wanted to come over for a bit and play on the x-box or whatever and then I was going to tell him.

I knew what to expect of course, he'd hate me, he'll probably leave before I can tell him everything and I'll lose yet another friend but I knew it was the right thing to do after all I had to put him, my best friend, before me for once. Of course Quinn'll flip her nut and hit back just as hard but I couldn't bring myself to care much about her retaliation, I mean how could she possibly make my life worse than it already is, than it will be by the time I'm finished talking to Finn?

No, on this my mind was well and truly set and in a way it helped somewhat to ease the pain of Quinn's betrayal, if only a little, because at least some amount, no matter how minute, of good would come from it.

Finding this out also meant that I could finally think about what I wanted in regards to the baby, not what Quinn wanted to do, or what Finn wanted to do, but me, how I felt about being a dad, what I thought about giving up our baby for adoption and I was starting to think that maybe I didn't want to give her up. I already loved that baby more than anything in this world, and I could bear the thought of that being taken away from me.

I hated the thought of my little girl growing up as I had, believing that her dad didn't want her, didn't love her. I know I'm only in high school, I don't have a job or any way of actually supporting a child, but I could go to college part-time and look after her the rest of the time, my mom would help I'm sure...God there's so much to consider it was making my brain hurt.

I looked down at my blank notebook as the bell rang for the end of the school day and sighed. I really wasn't looking forward to tonight's rehearsal. Not only am I dreading seeing Quinn and of course Finn, but also Kurt. Sweet, beautiful, gorgeous Kurt, who was now the third person to discover my greatest secret, well next to the whole baby thing of course, but still.

Kurt knowing that I'm gay is just one step away from him knowing exactly how I feel about him and that both scared me and thrilled me at the same time. I mean he's exactly what my ballad is about and I know that if Schue asks us to perform them in rehearsal that Mercedes would know exactly who I was singing about and to be honest, if I was up there in front of the others I know that I wouldn't be able to keep my eyes off of Kurt.

I couldn't really bring myself to worry about it too much though, because even though the thought of people knowing scares the hell out of me, I also think that maybe I'm ready for people to know, maybe I'm ready to come out of the proverbial closet and be exactly who I want to be, who I am rather than this lie that I've been living for all these years.

As I walked into the choir room I spotted Quinn waving me over to an empty seat near her, Santana and Finn and I inwardly grimaced at the thought of being anywhere near her and her bitch cohort Santana, the pair of whom had decided it was their mission to cure me of my sick perversion. Thankfully I was saved from that hell by Mercedes and surprisingly Kurt, who although looked a little sceptical and highly confused, still appeared as welcoming as the person I'd begun to see as my closest friend, despite having only ended our animosity a few days ago.

"Thanks," I whispered as I took a seat next to the pair. I could tell people were confused as I glanced around the room but chose to ignore them in favour of Mr. Schue who had just entered.

"Today I want us to hear some of your ballads, only a couple because I know not all of you like doing this sort of thing so...does anyone want to go first?" He asked hopefully.

Unsurprisingly it was Rachael who offered to go first and her performance was brilliant as usual, but for some reason today I just found it boring...maybe it was my bad mood or just because she always chose the same kind of song to sing, or because she was always the one who was chosen to be the star and we'd heard it over and over again. I think it was the former or the latter or whatever it was that meant the first one because I found myself tuning in and out of not only her performance but also Finn's, Tina's, Quinn's and even Mercedes' even though it was directed at me.

It was only when Kurt began to sing his that I finally started to pay attention. His voice just blew me away; it always had, especially last week when he sang Defying Gravity. I was completely entranced as he sang so much so that I almost didn't notice as his eyes moved to and then stayed on Finn the whole time he was singing...almost, and it seemed like I wasn't the only one if the glare that Quinn was directing at Kurt or the sad look that Mercedes gave me were anything to go by.

It made me feel physically sick to know that I could never live up to nice, kind Finn, even more so I was sure when all the stuff with Quinn got out, if it hadn't already. My heart ached as I watched Kurt sway along to the music of I Honestly Love You. If only he could be singing that to me...I'd do anything, absolutely anything to have Kurt's heart as he has mine.

I slouched back into my chair as the song ended, scared because I knew what I was about to do would probably out me to several other people in Glee club, but I'd made up my mind, I was ready for people to know, I felt safe that I would be accepted by most of my fellow gleeks and taking a deep breath and a quick glance at Mercedes who smiled reassuringly and gave me a small thumbs up, I looked up at Mr. Schue as he asked if there was anyone else who wanted to sing their ballads.

"I want to, Mr. Schue," I stated as I stood up and moved over to CD player.

"It's great to see some of the guys finally stepping up to the challenge," Mr. Schue stated as I selected the track before turning to face the group as the intro began to play.

_Need someone's hand to lead me through the night  
I need someone's arms to hold and squeeze me tight  
Now, when the night begins, whoa, I'm at an end  
because I need your love so bad_

It felt amazing to finally get everything that I've been feeling for the past few weeks, hell for the near on two years that I've been in love with Kurt. I looked out at the rest of the glee club to see an array of emotions and reactions staring back at me.

Finn, Matt, Mike, Artie and Tina looked confused which was to be expected of course. Quinn looked like she was about to kill someone, she probably knew who I was singing about and Brittany had that same dazed look she always had so I just ignored that.

Both Mercedes and Rachael were wearing supportive smiles and were swaying happily to the music, although I wasn't sure what Rachael was supporting it was still kinda nice, and I knew that Mercedes had my back with this.

Santana was the most shocking she seemed happy, almost smug as if she thought that I was singing about her, something that both shocked and disgusted me and I quickly diverted my attention lest she get the wrong intention.

_  
I need some lips to feel next to mine  
Need someone to stand up and tell me when I'm lyin'  
And when the lights are low and it's time to go  
That's when I need your love so bad_

After only briefly glancing at the others in the room I finally worked up the courage to look at Kurt. He looked pretty awed, probably to do with me actually singing something meaningful mixed with what he'd found out earlier today, but as I continued to watch him, focusing everything that I felt for him into what I was singing his eyes widened and a mixture of confusing and hesitant realisation set in and I knew that he'd worked it out.

_ So why don't you give it up and bring it home to me_

_or write it on a piece of paper, baby, so it can be read to me  
Tell me that you love me and stop drivin' me mad  
whoa, because I, I need your love so bad_

He sat there stunned as I continued to sing to him and I knew that it would start to become obvious to some of the others what was going on. Sure enough when I chanced a quick glance out at the others I saw that Artie, Tina, Rachael, Santana and even Mr. Schue had found out and I couldn't really bring myself to care all that much about who knew other than Kurt, after all no-one other than the beautiful soprano actually mattered in the grand scheme of things, at least those that weren't supportive at any rate.

_  
Need a soft voice to talk to me at night  
Don't want you to worry, baby  
I know we can make everything alright  
Listen to my plea, baby, bring it to me  
'Cause I need your love so bad  
I need, I need, baby, I need your love so bad._

As the song ended my eyes remained locked with the stunned and confusion filled blue-green eyes for several moments before Mr. Schue clearing his throat brought me out of my second Kurt induced stupor of the day and I hastily sat down next to Mercedes who placed a supportive hand on my shoulder for a moment offering me a small smile before she turned back to listen to Mr. Schue.

"Thank you Puck. I'm really impressed with all of your work on this project and I'm glad that some of you are really starting to get into what we're doing here. I think that's about it for today though so I'll see you guys next week." Mr. Schue said.

The room was filled with noise as we gathered our things and I watched as Kurt made a hasty retreat closely followed by an apologetic Mercedes who promised to text me over the weekend. I smiled a little as I thought about how close me and Mercedes had become thanks to this ballads assignment and I had to praise Mr. Schuster for coming up with such a great idea.

My moment of happiness was short lived, however, when I spotted Finn heading over to me and I sighed in resignation. I knew what I had to do and it was the right thing to do, for all of us, but that didn't mean I was looking forward to it. All I know is that this weekend was going to be interesting.

* * *

**Songs: **Here I Am- Leona Lewis- Mercedes' ballad

Need Your Love So Bad- Fleetwood Mac- Puck's ballad

**A/N: **So there we go another chapter...finally...I know there are some people out there (especially one or two of my friends) who will be glad that it's finally here and to know that I've already begun work on chapter 4 which will again be Kurt POV :) I hope you all enjoyed it and of course comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated. Also don't forget all you slash writers that I have a little Birthday challenge thing going on so head over to my profile for all the details about that, the deadline is the 18th of march so there's only a few weeks left to get your entries in. Much love,

Multi x


	4. All The World's A Stage

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee, just this little plunny here, there's a little bit of what you see during the episode in this chapter so I don't own that, just the stuff around it.

**Warning: **Eventual Slash so no likey no ready (take me out reference)

**Summary: **When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballads week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to the unsuspecting girl and while everyone else is focussed on supporting Finn and Quinn over the whole baby thing, Mercedes offers her hand in friendship to the boy in need through song. Taking note of Mercedes' advice he Puck uses his own ballad to tell the world just who he is and what, or rather who he wants. Meanwhile, Kurt tries to help Finn with the whole baby fiasco as he also battles with the crush he has for the quarterback, all of which is only complicated further when he overhears Mercedes and Puck talking. Puck/Kurt slash eventually.

**A/N: **OMG can't believe it's been two weeks since I last updated...been way too busy and I had serious writers block for ages when I was trying to write the Kurt and Mercedes part of this chapter...don't have a clue why...but I'd like to credit My Name Rhymes With Ham an author here on for unknowingly and successfully breaking me out of that block with her line "extended stay in rainbow land" from her fic 'Desires of the Soul' that my sister was reading at the time that I was trying to figure it out. Also during the phone conversation Mercedes is in italics and Kurt is just normal.

* * *

**Time To Face The Music**

_All The World's A Stage_

_***_

**Kurt POV:**

I was home only fifteen minutes after Mr. Schue had dismissed us. Usually I would have hung around a bit talking to Mercedes, Tina and Artie but today I just couldn't. After everything that had happened today, not least during Glee, I just couldn't bring myself to stay there longer than I had to. I'd completely ignored Mercedes as she called after me and I felt horrible for it but I was completely at a loss as to what was going on at William McKinley high. It was as if someone had come along and just turned the whole world upside down. I mean as if finding out that Puck was the baby daddy wasn't enough, I then find out that he, Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, badass jock and asshole extraordinaire, the very same who spent the last goodness knows how long making my life a living hell because I'm a 'fag' turns out to be himself a homosexual.

I mean Puck...is gay? Either I had taken one too many slushies to the face and my brain was now suffering from whatever toxins they put in those drinks or this is actually happening. Once again I was left not knowing what I was supposed to do with this new overload of information. Well that wasn't strictly true I knew exactly what I needed to do before Monday and that was to talk to Mercedes for once this week and actually get the whole truth out of her instead of the odd snippet here and there that cause nothing but endless confusion and leave me completely frazzled as I try to decipher the latest drama.

With that in mind I pulled out my cell phone and typed up a quick text to Mercedes..._need to talk, come over to mine. Bring ice cream. xx_

With that taken care of I tried, desperately to distract myself by rehearsing some of our old Glee songs, after all, Mr. Schue was yet to tell us which songs we would be using for Sectionals and any practise is good practise right? But that just led me back to thinking about the very thing, or rather, person, that I was trying so hard not to think about...Puck.

More specifically it was how Puck was acting during Glee today, the way his eyes hardly left me while he was singing, the way he kept glancing at me while the others were singing and he didn't think I was looking, the way he crossed his arms and seemed to sink further down in his seat while Finn was singing, the movement enough to catch my attention, diverting it away from Finn and onto himself, a feat not many could accomplish.

Throughout all this though it was the feelings that these actions induced that confused me the most, after all Puck was gay, and as far as I'm aware we're the only two gay guys in the whole of William McKinley High so it wasn't that surprising to find his attention somewhat focused upon my person, big headed I know but what can I say? I am fabulous. No, it was those butterflies that suddenly began to dance in my stomach whenever he looked at me and the blood that rushed to my cheeks as I blushed when his eyes locked with mine and the way I practically, and unwittingly, swooned as he sang his ballad.

I was finding it increasingly difficult to determine why all of a sudden these feelings that are so readily linked with a crush were making appearance in regards to Puck of all people. Was it merely a by-product of the fact that his attention was focused on me? Was it because he was the only other gay teen that I knew in Lima? Or was it because I genuinely had feelings for the boy who made my life a living hell for the past few years? What about my feelings for Finn? Were they still there, even just a little or were they gone completely? Can you even get over a crush in just a few hours?

I was brought out of my jumbled and confusing thoughts by the sound of my cell buzzing, telling me that I had a new text message. It was from Mercedes letting me know that she would be here in about half an hour with the ice cream and that we had to talk about Puck...as if I didn't already know that? Why the hell else would I send her a text that said '_we need to talk_?'It's not as if I want to break up with her is it?

I sighed in frustration wondering how, in the name of all things holy, I was going to get through the next half an hour without my head exploding.

_***_

I practically ran up the stairs to answer the door when Mercedes finally arrived, my brain completely frazzled after spending the last thirty minutes with thoughts of Puck and Finn and Quinn spinning around in my head and I was more that relieved when I spotted the tub of Haagen-Dazs ice cream in the groceries bag she was carrying.

"You're a life saver," I stated as I took the bag from her and led the way into the kitchen, grabbing two spoons from the draw before sitting at the breakfast bar, Mercedes taking the stool next to mine. It was incredible how much ice cream two people could go through in a week, but with all the drama going on we definitely needed it.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence then as we devoured the ice cream. Really I knew we were just delaying the inevitable, or at least I was. I was completely freaked out about everything that was going on and while I knew that Mercedes was the only person I could talk to about this, the only person who could tell me the truth, besides Puck himself, I was scared to hear out loud what I had already started to believe in my mind...because then it would be real, not just speculated and besides that I wasn't sure I was ready for the aftermath of that conversation, after all, I could only just admit to myself that I might like Puck...a little bit...there was no way I was ready to admit those feelings to Mercedes.

I didn't have a choice though, Puck needed friends right now and we were pretty much all he had, especially if this were ever to come out, so I pushed my fear aside and addressed the elephant in the room.

"So when did Puck..." I trailed off; apparently pushing aside my fear wasn't exactly working as planned.

"Decide to take an extended stay in rainbow land?" Mercedes asked.

We looked at each other for a moment, me in complete shock that she'd just said that, before we burst out laughing, the tension that had been surrounding us fizzling away into nothing as we leant against each other trying to catch our breath.

"Really you should be talking to Puck about this, but I know that you won't and I also know that he's going to need us in the next few weeks so I'll tell you everything I know but you have to promise that you won't say anything to anyone."

"Of course I won't say anything, what do you take me for?" I replied indignantly.

"I know. I just had to make sure...I know you won't tell." I smiled slightly, letting her know it was okay, and I knew she had some mother hen thing going on with Puck so I just let it pass, nodding for her to continue.

"So how long has he known?" I asked.

"Two years. The only person he ever told was Quinn when they were..."

We talked for nearly an hour, going over everything that Mercedes knew. I was completely shocked when I asked about how the whole baby thing fit with all of this. I mean sure I knew Quinn wasn't the most pleasant person in the world but I never thought she was capable of something like this, to manipulate someone who was in such a vulnerable place as Puck had been at the time...trust me I know what he was going through...I just couldn't wrap my head around it. My hate for her and Santana had just gone up about a zillion percent and I wasn't sure I would even be able to look at them at school on Monday; I couldn't even begin to imagine how Puck was feeling.

As Mercedes was getting ready to go I asked her one more question, probably the most important one where I was concerned. "At Glee today was Puck singing to me?" I asked looking up at her from where I was still sat at the counter with wide eyes.

"Yes," She said simply.

"Oh," I replied unable to help the small smile that tugged at the corners of my lips or the fluttering of butterflies in my stomach. Mercedes just looked at me with that "what the hell?" look on her face and I blushed. "It was nice," I explained dumbly, blushing even harder at my stupid reply.

"I've seen that look before," Mercedes stated as her eyes scanned my face, "That's the same look you get whenever you see Finn." I blushed harder still, knowing that I'd been found out.

"You like him," She stated, eyes widening in surprise, before they narrowed in warning, "You better make sure that you actually like him and don't just feel this way because he's the only other gay guy that you know in Lima or because you're flattered or something. He's already been hurt too much." She said.

"I know; that's what I need to figure out. Right now though it doesn't matter because he needs friends right now and we're it."

"I know, and from what I gather from his text just now, the proverbial shit is about to hit the fan."

I stared at her in shock; I'd never heard her swear before. I shook my head when she shot me a 'what's your problem' look and smiled at my best friend's antics.

"We'll be on red alert then. Call me if anything happens." I replied.

"You too," She said giving me a quick hug before making her way over to her car. I waved as I watched her drive away and knew that we were in for a hectic week.

_***_

I thought I would feel better after talking to Mercedes. I thought I would be able to see thing more clearly, but I didn't feel anything of the sort. I was far more confused now that I knew everything about the situation then I had when I'd been working on pure speculation.

I let out a sigh of frustration as I fell back on my bed. How could things go from normal to crazy in no time at all? I was so confused about what I was feeling about Puck and this whole situation and I knew there was no way I was going to figure it out tonight when it was already nearing midnight.

I decided to leave it till tomorrow and just get some sleep and my body had already begun to relax into my bed, despite my head still spinning with all the stuff about Puck and I was just moments away, I was sure, from falling asleep when there was a loud banging coming from upstairs. I sat up, blearily looking up at the ceiling listening to the racket when I finally realised what it was...someone was knocking, albeit excessively, on the front door.

Grabbing my fluffy white robe I ran up the stairs just as the banging ceased, knowing that my Dad had already reached the door. As I approached the main hall I could hear my Dad talking to whoever it was at the door.

"Who are you? And what the hell are you doing banging on my door when it's almost midnight?"

"I'm s-s-so s-sorry Mr. Hummel, I didn't r-realise it was so late. I d-didn't know w-w-where else to go, you see I was j-just coming to see Kurt," The stranger stated and that's when I realised that it wasn't a strange at all, it was Finn, or more importantly a crying Finn.

I hurried up the last few steps coming to a stop behind my Dad. "Finn?" I called, peaking over my Dad's shoulder.

"Kurt," Finn breathed relief spreading across his face, if only for a brief moment.

"You know this kid?" My Dad asked.

"Yes...is it alright if he comes in?" I replied desperately hoping that he would give the okay.

He looked over at Finn for a moment and I could pinpoint the exact moment when he'd decided that the crying boy on his doorstep could come in. His shoulders hunched up in defeat as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"He can come in," Was all that he said before retreating back to the living room where I could hear some cowboy film or other playing.

_***_

"What happened?" I asked once we were situated in my basement.

Finn wiped at his eyes furiously for a moment before looking up at me. "I went round Puck's house today, after Glee, and he told me that he was the father of Quinn's baby." Finn said, the tears that he'd been furiously wiping away just moments before already starting to fall again.

"Did you believe him?" I managed to ask even though my brain had been reduced to an "ohmygod" panic session. I couldn't believe that Puck had actually told Finn about the baby, but then i remembered what Mercedes had said just before she'd left only a few hours ago '_the proverbial shit is about to hit the fan_'. This was what she'd been talking about. I was brought out of my tirade by Finn.

"I didn't at first, I just thought he was jealous that I was with Quinn and he wasn't, but then it all started to make sense. I mean me and Quinn haven't even had sex she just said that it had happened because of the Jacuzzi and I was dumb enough to believe her when really it was Puck's all along. She wasn't even going to tell me, she was just going to let me believe that the baby was mine and have me fork out for all the bills and stuff until she was adopted. Hell she's living at my house, oh God she's staying at my house. I can't go back there Kurt. I can't face her, not after this, what am I going to do?"  
"Finn!" I stated placing my hand on his arm. He blinked at me owlishly for a moment, breathing hard as he tried to calm down.

"It's okay, I'm going to talk to my Dad and ask him if you can stay here tonight and then we can figure out what to do about everything else tomorrow, okay? It's late and you really need to get some sleep so that you can think a bit more clearly about things." I said gently.

He nodded and leaned back against the couch.

"I'll be back in just a moment."

I grabbed my cell before heading upstairs to talk to my Dad because I desperately needed to talk to Mercedes before I faced Finn again.

_***_

I was so glad to have a Dad like mine, I knew, after all it hadn't taken much persuasion to get him to let Finn stay, after all he'd seen the state Finn was in when he arrived and once I'd explained what was going on and he'd been sure that Finn wouldn't try to hit me or hit _on _me while he was here he hadn't had a problem with it.

With that out of the way I pulled my cell out of my robe and called Mercedes.

She picked up before the first ring had finished. _"Ohmygosh Kurt I was just about to call you, Puck told Finn about the baby."_ She said before I could even say "hi".

"I know, Finn turned up at my house, he's not in a good way."

"_Yea, Puck said he just left before he could explain...I don't blame the boy really. I mean I wouldn't have stuck around, but still Puck's not feeling too hot either. What are we gonna do?"_ Mercedes replied, worry evident in her voice.

"I'll talk to Finn tomorrow, he really just needs to sleep it off first and then I'll suggest that he go and see Puck to find out about the whys and whatnot, he's staying here tonight, he didn't want to go home while _she's _there at his house..._the bitch_." I'd said it before I could even register what was coming out of my mouth and I slapped a hand across my mouth in shock. "Ohmygoodness, I can't believe I just said that."

"_Well I can, she deserves it, and I can't believe her, messing with these two boys' lives like this. I hope Finn and Puck can work things out, it would be horrible if she messed up their friendship as well."_

"I know what you mean. I'll talk to Finn tomorrow, right now however I'm gonna go to bed because today has just been too much."

"_I know, call me after you talk to Finn. I'll text Puck and let him know that you're gonna talk to Finn and to warn him that he might have a visitor he wasn't expecting tomorrow." _

"We're gonna have to do some serious retail therapy after all this."

"_You got that right,"_ Mercedes replied, _"I talk to you tomorrow."_

"Okay, night,"

"_G'night." _

I sighed as I flipped my phone shut before heading back down to my basement only to find Finn already out like a light on my couch. If I was honest I was actually glad that I didn't have to deal with him then and there because I was way too exhausted, way too much drama for one day. I flipped off the light as I walked past the switch and climbed into bed, dreading the next day when I would have to deal with it all but glad for the escape that sleep brought with it, or at least I thought it would...

* * *

Sorry if the original conversation that Mercedes and Kurt have about Puck in this chapter seems to be cut off early, it's just that it was all stuff that was covered before with Puck and Mercedes in the first chap and I didn't want to repeat myself as that would get boring and the only thing relevant from the conversation in this chapter was the fact that Kurt now knows what's going on and his subsequent reactions to knowing...which I hope I covered in here. The chapter title comes from the poem of the same name by Shakespeare and ohmygosh there's no music in this one :o . Anywhos I hope you enjoyed it and of course all comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated and once again sorry for the wait...don't worry the next chapter (Puck POV) should be up fairly shortly...don't you just love school holidays? Two weeks off...bliss.

Multi x


	5. Back In Control

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee, just this little plunny here, there's a little bit of what you see during the episode in this chapter so I don't own that, just the stuff around it.

**Warning: **Eventual Slash so no likey no ready (take me out reference)

**Summary: **When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballads week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to the unsuspecting girl and while everyone else is focussed on supporting Finn and Quinn over the whole baby thing, Mercedes offers her hand in friendship to the boy in need through song. Taking note of Mercedes' advice he Puck uses his own ballad to tell the world just who he is and what, or rather who he wants. Meanwhile, Kurt tries to help Finn with the whole baby fiasco as he also battles with the crush he has for the quarterback, all of which is only complicated further when he overhears Mercedes and Puck talking. Puck/Kurt slash eventually.

**A/N: **Okay so there's a bit of time overlapping in these next few chapters, not scene wise just the actually time period in which the events take place due to the POV changes. In this chapter we see what happens with Finn and Puck before Finn turns up on Kurt's doorstep in the last chap...hope it's not too confusing.

* * *

**Time To Face The Music**

_Back In Control_

_***_

I took a deep, calming breath as I walked up the stairs, arms laden with the snacks and drinks I'd been down to the kitchen for. Finn had been here for nearly seven hours already and I hadn't yet had the courage to do what I'd really brought him here for. Instead we'd spent endless hours on the x-box, especially when Finn got into my newest game Heavy Rain, which to be honest I didn't really blame him for because once you started playing that game it just sucked you in, it was like a movie but you get to make all the choices and the best bit is that it's different every time you play it because of the different decisions you make.

Anyway that's beside the point. The point is I hadn't told Finn about the baby yet, and there was no way that I could leave it any longer. I had to tell him tonight, and that means I have to tell him now before we end up falling asleep.

I dumped the snacks and drinks on the desk in the corner of the room and sat in the chair, turning it so that I was facing Finn who was sprawled out on my bed still playing the x-box. "Hey Finn," I said catching his attention.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you about something?" I asked, twisting my hands together. I don't think I'd ever been this nervous, no scratch that, I'd never been this scared in my life.

He paused the game before sitting up properly and looking at me from his position on the bed.

"Sounds serious. I thought there was something bothering you, you've been acting weird for weeks, but I just thought I'd let you figure it out for yourself, I knew you'd talk to me eventually," He replied and it nearly killed me. He was always so understanding, so kind. Why did I let this stuff get so out of control? Why didn't I just tell Finn that I was gay in the first place? He's not like the other douches on the football team, he wouldn't have turned his back on me just because I'm different, I mean hell he's friends with Kurt isn't he?

I felt so horrible for what I'd done to my best friend and I desperately hoped that he would one day be able to forgive me, even though I don't deserve it. I don't know what I would do if I lost Finn because of this.

"Yeah it is pretty serious. Christ I really don't know how to tell you this. You're gonna hate me and I know I deserve it but I'm not sure I can cope if you..."

"Puck, tell me what's going on, you're really starting to freak me out dude." Finn cut me off, eyes wide as he looked at me and I had to turn away, couldn't look at him anymore, the guilt ripping through me like a knife.

"You're not the father of Quinn's baby...I am." I stated, eyes closed and hands clenched together as I waited for the eruption but none came.

"What?" He asked after a while, his voice no more that a whisper.

"I said..."

"I know what you said," He replied, "What is this Puck? Are you jealous of me and Quinn? Thought you'd make up this story to break us up?" Finn asked.

"You think I would risk our friendship over some made up story? You and Quinn didn't even sleep together Finn. I'm the father of the baby, I'm not lying to you," I replied calmly, although on the inside I was falling apart.

"I'm not sure I can cope with this," He said standing up, hands gripping his hair as he began to pace the room, "How could you do this to me? What about Quinn was she just going to continue lying to me?"

"I'm so sorry," I said, standing too and reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder, but I never got the chance as he whipped round to look at me.

"Sorry? You're sorry? If you're so sorry then why did you do it in the first place?" He yelled and I could do nothing but stand there and watch as he swung his arm up, his fist connecting with the side of my face making me stagger backwards and land on the floor.

He stood there, breathing hard as he looked at me, before turning around and all but running out of my room. I sat there completely stunned that he'd actually hit me. Nice, calm responsible Finn hit me. I prodded my face gently, wincing as my fingers made contact with the skin there; it was definitely going to leave a bruise.

Christ, what have I done? How could I have been so stupid? How could I believe that Quinn actually gave a shit about me, that she was trying to help? I hadn't even realised that I was crying until I felt the tears stinging as they reached the cut on my face, but once I did realise I couldn't stop. Everything was getting completely out of control...it was all too much to deal with at once.

I heard a knock on my door and looking up I saw my mom stood there and I don't think I'd ever been happier to see her.

"Oh my poor baby," She said as she sat on the floor next to me, pulling me into her arms, the same way Mercedes had done earlier today, "What's going on honey?" she asked as I gripped hold of the sleeve of her jumper, letting her rock me as the tears continued to fall. "Something hasn't been right for weeks," She murmured, "I'm so worried about you baby...tell me what's wrong."

And I did. I was so tired of trying to deal with this all on my own and sure I know I had Mercedes, but we're just kids I knew I was going to need my mom in the coming months, hell I needed her now, so I just started talking and didn't stop until I'd told her everything about Quinn and Finn and the baby and about Kurt and being gay. She never once interrupted as I spoke; she just continued to rock me gently as she had when I was younger and murmuring comforting words.

"Everything's going to be alright baby," She said once I'd finished speaking, but she didn't let go, " I'm so proud of you for telling Finn about the baby, for owning up to your responsibilities and for having the courage to tell me all of this. I love you so much and I'm going to be here with you every step of the way through the next few months. You don't have to shoulder this burden all on your own, not when you've got so much on your plate."

"Thank you," I whispered as I clung to her.

"It's what I'm here for baby," She replied, planting a kiss on my forehead, "You need to get some sleep, it's been a long day and you're going to need all the energy you can get for what's ahead."

"Okay," I stated, pulling away from the safety of her arms.

"I'll see you in the morning," She stated.

"G'night."

I sighed as I flopped down on my bed. I was so exhausted and my mom was right I was gonna need all the strength possible to face Quinn and Finn as well as Kurt on Monday. But there was still one more thing I needed to do before; after all, I promised I would. Grabbing my cell I selected Mercedes' number from my contacts and waited for her to pick up.

"_Puck?"_ She stated, and I could hear in her voice that she was as tired as I was, _"Do you realise what time it is?"_

"Yeah, I'm sorry it's so late, but I just thought I'd let you know that I told Finn about the baby and that it didn't really go so well. He was really upset, but I recon anyone would have been in his situation."

"_Oh Puck, are you alright?"_

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm gonna get some sleep, it's been a bit of a long day."

"_Okay, well just give me a call if you need to talk or anything,"_

Okay, thanks Mercedes, I don't know what I would have done the past couple of weeks without you."

"_Hey, don't worry about it, and don't forget that no matter what happens in the next few weeks you've got me and Kurt, we won't abandon you."_

"Thanks. Well goodnight."

"_G'night. See you on Monday." _

I put my cell on my bedside table before stripping down to my boxers and climbing into bed for a much needed sleep.

_***_

The next morning, despite everything that was going on, I felt a small sense of relief. Firstly because I'd finally told the one person who needed to know about the baby most, Finn, and even though I knew he was upset and there was a possibility that I could lose my best friend for good because of it, I knew it was the right thing to do, for everyone. Quinn was going to be pissed of course, but I'd stopped caring about what she thought the moment I'd heard that she was trying to 'cure' me of being gay.

Mostly I was relieved that finally I'd worked up the courage to tell my mom what was going on and she'd accepted me. I mean sure it was going to be a lot for her to deal with all at once, but she hadn't thrown me out like some parents would have. I knew I was lucky to have a mom who was as supportive as she was and I was glad that she would be there to help me when things got tough at school and with the baby stuff, especially after the decision I'd made when I woke up this morning.

I didn't get chance to think about the life changing decision I'd made earlier because there was a knock on the door. Mom and my little sister had already gone out so that left only me to answer it. Running down the stairs I yanked open the door and was shocked to find Finn stood on my doorstep.

"Why?" he asked as soon as his eyes locked with mine. I was so shocked that he was even here that I just stared at him for a moment before moving to the side to let him in. I led him up to my room, just in case my mom and sister got back early, and once we were comfortable, in the same places as yesterday disturbingly, I started to explain.

"I'm not going to try and make excuses for what I did because there isn't anything that can justify hurting you like this and I know what I did was wrong but I just need you to know what's going on right now with me and I hope that maybe you can understand why I did it." I stated, once again nervous about what Finn's reaction would be.

"Go on, I'm listening."

"Well, I guess there's no beating about the bush with this really. I'm gay Finn." I looked up from where I'd been staring at my hands just in time to watch Finn's eyes go as wide as Miss Pillsbury's, which was kinda creepy and so hilarious that I couldn't help but laugh.

"I've had enough of your stupid games Puck. Can't you be serious for once in your life and actually tell me why you slept with my girlfriend," Finn yelled.

"Oh I was being completely serious. I'm sorry I laughed; I guess this whole situation's a bit surreal. I mean I don't expect you to believe me, I hope you will, but I haven't really given you much to actually go on here. I am gay, Finn, I have been for a long time. I know my stud routine makes it seem like I'm very straight, but that's all it is, a routine, an act. I've never actually slept with any of those girls, well apart from Quinn. It's pretty easy to do really, a make out session here a sext there. I was so scared that someone would find out. I'm not like Kurt and I sure as hell didn't have Glee to back me up, until now. I was on the football team and those asswipes would have dropped me as soon as they found out. I couldn't bear losing my friends.

And then there was Quinn. I thought she was my best friend, you know how close we were, and I trusted her. I told her that I was gay and about how confused and scared I was about it. She convinced me that I needed to try being with a girl before I could actually know if I was gay or not and I just went along with it. I was gonna go with Santana but Quinn convinced me otherwise and then...well I guess you know the rest.

I can't believe I was so gullible. I shouldn't have just gone along with what she was saying, but I thought I could trust her to help me work it out but really she was just trying to 'cure me' or some bullshit like that. I mean she's a complete psycho, dude, her and Santana both. It's like they teamed up or something to turn me straight again. I'm so sorry that I did this to you Finn. You're my best friend and I hate that I hurt you." I finished looking up at him. The tears were back again, making wet tracks down my face and is saw his eyes widen more than they already had (how was that even possible?) as he looked at me.

"Oh my God! You're actually telling the truth here aren't you?"

I just nodded, smiling a little at the incredulous look on his face.

"I wouldn't have abandoned you, you know." He said after a while.

"I know," I said, "I wish I'd told you, I really do, it would have saved us all a lot of heartache."

"Does anyone else know about you being gay?"

"Mercedes, Kurt and my mom pretty much know everything, I only told them this week though. Well, technically I accidentally told Kurt part of it because I thought he was Mercedes, long story," I added when I saw his eyebrows go up and a look that clearly said 'how the hell did you confuse those two?', "I told my mom after you left last night."

"So Kurt and Mercedes know about you being the dad as well?"

"Yeah. I kinda had a bit of a break down when me and Mercedes were supposed to be practising our ballads. I just ended up telling her everything while I sat there blubbering. I was so tired of lying to everyone, of hiding who I truly am and I was ashamed of what me and Quinn had done and I was so pissed that she wasn't going to let me be involved in my own daughter's life, she's just going to put her up for adoption without so much as a by your leave and I don't have a say in the matter."

I sighed as Finn physically flinched at the mention of the baby. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to lay thins all on you, I'm sure this is pretty much the last thing you want to hear me talking about."

"It's okay I just...it's a lot to take in." He replied.

"You're telling me." I replied with a humourless chuckle.

"Thank you for telling me about...you know. I don't know if I can forgive you yet, I just need some time and some space to process this all, and I need to talk to Quinn."

"Whatever you need. I don't expect you to be able to just forgive me off the bat, but I hope that one day you will be able to. I really don't want to lose you."

Finn just nodded his head before standing up. "I really need to get home. I'll, um, see you at school I guess." He stated.

"Yeah."

And that was it; he was out the door in a flash. I sighed as I slumped down onto the couch listening to the sound of Finn's car driving away. Once again I pulled out my cell and selected Mercedes' name from my contacts list. It was becoming a regular occurrence since our ballads rehearsal, which shockingly had only been a few days ago. It felt like months had passed since I first told Mercedes about all this, at least there was certainly enough drama to fill a lifetime never mind a week or even a month.

"_Hey Puck, how were things with Finn?" _She asked before I'd even had chance to say "hi".

"How the hell did you know that Finn was here?"

"_He stayed round Kurt's last night. I don't think he could face Quinn after talking to you last night. Anyway Kurt told me that he convinced Finn to go round and talk to you so how did it go?"_

"It went a lot better than last night. I mean we actually talked about it sensibly. I know it's going to take a lot for us to get past this but I think we can get there. I don't know what I would do if I lost him because of this."

"_Oh honey. Sure Finn's hurt right now and he's probably pretty pissed at you and Quinn both but you is his best friend and he loves you. There's no way he's going to let that go without a fight, as much as you won't. I'm sure you guys will work things out. Quinn on the other hand is a completely different kettle of fish. I hope he doesn't have anything else to do with that girl, you and him both, after all she's put you two through with all this she's lucky she's still in one piece really." _Mercedes replied, he sweet and caring tone turning dark as she spoke about Quinn, but I didn't blame her, if I could have hit her I would but she's a girl and it just ain't right, and besides I wouldn't want to risk my baby either.

"_Anyway, don't you worry about her, you just worry about you and how you're feeling about this whole situation."_

"Yeah, thanks again Mercedes, for being here like this even though I was a complete jerk to you and Kurt and the rest of Glee before."

"_It's all in the past Puck, don't worry about it."_

"Oh, I forgot to tell you last night, it was all a bit overwhelming really, but I told my mom about everything."

"_Really? I'm so proud of you. How did she take it?"_

"Really well. She was just really supportive and stuff. I was so scared that she was going to be like some of those other parents who throw their kids out over these kinds of things."

"_I'm really happy that it went well for you. Anyway I've got to go, I'm meeting Kurt at the mall, so I'll see you on Monday?"_

"Yeah, see you Monday."

"_Okay, bye." _

"Bye."

After talking to my mom and Finn and knowing that I had friends like Mercedes and Kurt there to back me up I was already feeling a bit better about what was going to happen on Monday, because I know for sure that it's going to get messy and Quinn is definitely going to be pissed.

* * *

I'm not too sure about the ending of this chapter but oh well...if you have any suggestions on how that last bit could be improved do please pass on your comments. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it and of course all comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Multi x


	6. Today's Another Day

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee, just this little plunny here, there's a little bit of what you see during the episode in this chapter so I don't own that, just the stuff around it.

**Warning: **Eventual Slash so no likey no ready (take me out reference)

**Summary: **When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballads week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to the unsuspecting girl and while everyone else is focussed on supporting Finn and Quinn over the whole baby thing, Mercedes offers her hand in friendship to the boy in need through song. Taking note of Mercedes' advice he Puck uses his own ballad to tell the world just who he is and what, or rather who he wants. Meanwhile, Kurt tries to help Finn with the whole baby fiasco as he also battles with the crush he has for the quarterback, all of which is only complicated further when he overhears Mercedes and Puck talking. Puck/Kurt slash eventually.

**A/N: **This is the last chapter that involves part of the weekend- then we go into Hairography time period. There's a bit of time overlapping again in this chapter because we go back to Finn at Kurt's house before he goes to Puck's.

* * *

**Time To Face The Music**

_Today's Another Day_

_xxx_

**Kurt POV:**

I looked across the table to see Finn stabbing at the pancakes on his plate, but not actually eating any of it. I sighed, knowing it would be futile to even try and get him to eat something, men were stubborn like that, I knew, after all both Dad and I are men and we'd had plenty of experience with that particular vice.

If I was honest I was still pretty surprised that I'd managed to get through a whole night sleeping only a few feet away from Finn without literally exploding with happiness and excitement. If this had happened even just a week before I knew I couldn't have done it, and that scared me more than anything. It wasn't that my feelings for Finn were diminishing that scared me, if anything it came as somewhat of a relief, unrequited love and all that. No, it was what was occupying my head instead that worried me, because I felt like I was falling fast, too fast, practically drowning in the overwhelming feelings I've developed for Puck.

It was odd to think that I'd hated him with such a passion up until this week and then to have those feelings turned completely upside down by one little revelation was too much to handle, especially with everything else that was going on with baby gate as well. I'd never really believed that line that always comes up in movies 'there's a fine line between love and hate', but this whole thing with Puck had me re thinking my stance on it.

Or course Mercedes had been right yesterday, there was still a chance that I was latching on to the fact that Puck is the only other gay guy I know and as such the only person even remotely available to my teenage hormones. It also helped that Puck actually had feelings for me, according to Mercedes.

I could feel my cheeks heating up and a small grin pull at the corners of my lips as I thought about it. I looked up to find Finn giving me a puzzled look and I smiled in reply shaking my head a little, letting him know it was nothing. He shrugged and went back to pushing his food around his plate. The happiness that had begun to fill me up faded a little at the lost look on the other boy's face, luckily my Dad had already left for work so we had the privacy I knew we'd need for this conversation, after all I had absolutely no idea how Finn was going to react to my suggestion and I definitely didn't need my Dad around to make things worse by throwing Finn out of my house.

"Finn?" I called tentatively wary of the damage that my next sentence could bring.

"Yeah?" Finn replied once again looking up from his now completely dissected pancakes.

"Did Puck tell you why he did it? Did he give you any explanation at all?"

His forehead scrunched up a little, his eyes un-focusing as he tried to remember before he shook his head. "I didn't stick around long enough to find out. But what exactly is there to explain? Those two have always hung out together; I mean who knows how many times they've fooled about behind my back? I thought they were just friends? Stupid me for thinking I could trust my best friend and my girlfriend hey?" Finn replied; fists clenching around his cutlery until his fingers were white as his anger grew.

"I know you're not going to like what I'm about to say but please here me out okay?" I paused to look up once again at the other boy, having taken to staring down at my own hands as I fidgeted nervously. After a nod from Finn I carried on. "You may be right about the reason they...did what they did...but what if you're not? What if there's more to the story? I know you probably don't want to talk to him but I think you really need to, otherwise the not knowing is going to be torture for you."

Finn looked at me with a puzzled expression and for a moment I thought he was going to realise that I knew something but thankfully his...less than average intelligence...came to the rescue and he merely nodded his head.

"You're right. It won't change what has happened but at least I'll know. Thanks for all this Kurt," He added, waving a fork around in the air, "You're a really good friend, I'm really glad I got to know you better." He stated with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. I couldn't help but to worry that when he found out I already knew about Puck, which I'm sure he will, that he won't be quite as glad that he came to me.

_xxx_

Finn had left about an hour later and the rest of my afternoon had been occupied by my favourite pastime, next to singing of course, shopping. I'd bought three whole outfits, deciding that the stress of the last week was warrant enough to treat me and the clothes had just been too tempting. Seriously if he didn't love it so much he would have someone stop him from going shopping all together the amount of money he spent.

A few hours after I'd returned from my outing with Mercedes I heard the distinctive sound of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance coming from the other side of my basement room. Standing I flipped open my cell expecting to hear Mercedes' voice on the other end instead I was surprised to hear another very familiar voice.

"_You knew," _Finn said before I even had the chance to say 'hello', but I couldn't bring myself to care as I heard the resignation and the sadness in the other teen's voice.

"Oh, Finn. I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but it wasn't my place. Noah needed to tell you everything himself."

"_I know. It was just hard to hear that I wasn't the first person he told." _

"If it makes you feel better Noah didn't actually mean to tell me anything, he thought I was Mercedes."

"_That's twice you've done that now," _Finn stated, his voice holding a hint of confusion, and to tell the truth I was pretty confused myself.

"Twice I've done what?"

"_Called him Noah."_

"Really? I didn't even notice," I replied calmly while in my head a cacophony of ohmygoodnesses and ohcraps reigned supreme. God I was really falling fast here. When did I start thinking of him as Noah instead of Puck? A week, well less than a week, but still that's all it took to change the way I see him, the way I feel about not just him but Finn as well. It was like that saying 'love at first sight' only this time it wasn't physically seeing him with my eyes but rather seeing who he really is for the very first time without all the badass bravado. God I'm screwed I thought, shaking my head a little to pull myself out of my thoughts, fully aware that Finn was still on the other end of the phone.

"_Hello Kurt? You still there?"_

"Yeah. Sorry about that I kinda zoned out for a moment there. What were you saying?"

"_I said that I didn't know you two were so close," Finn replied. _

"We're not. I don't even know why I called him Noah, maybe it's because I've seen a different side to him recently," I stated defensively. The last thing I needed was Finn finding out about my newly developing feelings for the mohawked teen...hang on this is Finn I'm talking to right? Shaking my head at that really bitchy thought I tuned back into what Finn was saying.

"_Okay. I guess he's being going through a lot recently. It's only natural that you would be there for him." _Finn said, and I felt my anger start to rise at the bitter tone.

"Yea he has been going through a lot recently and so have you. I'm sorry if Mercedes and I being friends with Noah upsets you but I won't choose sides in this. He needs us just as much as you do. I know you feel betrayed because he's your best friend but he was manipulated by Quinn so if you want to be angry at anyone be angry at her, not Noah and certainly not me, when all I'm trying to do is be a good friend to two people who need me." I replied with a clipped tone.

"_You're right. I'm sorry. It's just I can't wrap my head around all this. I don't understand, I mean I understand about Puck I really do but why did she do it? I mean not just to me either, how could she manipulate Puck like that...I thought they were supposed to be best friends or something, you know like you and Mercedes."_

"Yeah, so did Noah." I replied softly as I thought about what it would be like if Mercedes ever betrayed me like that and shuddered at the horror of it.

"Look Finn, no-one's expecting you to be fine with all this, hell no-one's expecting you to ever speak to either of them again but you and Noah are best friends and have been for years. That's too much to throw away without a fight."

"_I know. I just don't think I'm ready, it's still too painful. All I could see while I was talking to him was them together."_

"No one's saying that it'll be easy, and it's going to take time and hard work, but that doesn't mean you should just give up on him. You need each other, especially now. If Noah ever decides he's going to come out to everyone then he'll need all the friends he can get, especially you, Mike and Matt on the football team. And I know for a fact that this whole baby thing is going to hit both of you hard. I mean if you think about how you felt when you sang your ballad. Just because you know that she's not biologically yours doesn't mean that those feelings are going to go away, it just means that there are two of you who feel that way. You're going to need each other to lean on because I know for a fact that things are going to get a whole lot harder than they already are."

"_I know. Thanks for this Kurt, for all of it. You're a really good friend, to both of us. I think Puck's going to need you too." _Finn replied, his tone a little happier now, but not by much...it would take a long time for him to come to terms with this latest drama.

Although I knew that the comment was meant to be innocent, that Finn meant Puck would need as many friends as he could get right then, I couldn't help but to conjure up an image of Puck lying on my bed, devoid of a t-shirt, and a look of complete and desperate need on his face as his hand ran down his own chest, a quite moan leaving the Jock's slightly parted lips.

I nearly let out a small moan of my own at the thought, but quickly caught myself the noise coming out slightly strangled as I tried to cover it with a cough.

"_Kurt, are you alright?" _Finn asked concern clear in his voice.

"I'm fine," I replied, my voice coming out slightly higher than normal as I tried to get myself back under control.

"_Okay. Well I've gotta go. I'll see you on Monday yeah?"_

"Yeah, I'll see you Monday."

"_Okay, bye." _

"Bye Finn." I replied before flipping my cell closed. I sighed as I sat down on my bed. My feelings right now were all over the place and I didn't have a clue about what the hell I was going to d about them, the only thing I knew was that Monday was going to bring with it yet more drama...as if we didn't already have enough to fill a lifetime and we were just going to have to deal with it as best we can...together.

_xxx_

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur of homework and Friends re-runs; my head too occupied to truly pay attention to any of it. Now here I was standing by my locker and completely dreading the moment that Puck and Finn walked into school. It seemed that over the weekend Quinn and Santana, if the smug looks on their faces were anything to go by, had been incredibly busy over the weekend and very text-happy.

When I'd walked in this morning the masses had been whispering about the latest gossip and I hadn't really paid it much attention as my mind was on other things. That all changed, however, when Mercedes grabbed my arm, pulling me over to our lockers.

xxxflashbackxxx

"_Mercedes, what..." I started to ask, trailing off as I finally got a chance to look at my best friend and saw how angry she was. _

"_Everyone knows about Puck being gay," Mercedes whispered as she looked around at all the gossiping teens. _

"_Oh My God! Noah's going to freak," I replied, not missing the small smile that ghosted across Mercedes' face at my use of Puck's first name, before she became serious again. _

"_That's not the only thing though. It seems that someone told Rachael that Puck is the father of Quinn's baby and you know what Rachel's like, she just couldn't keep such a revelation to herself and now everyone knows that too. What in the hell are we going to do?" _

_I stared at her dumbly for a moment, my mouth hanging open stupidly I was sure, before I snapped myself out of it. "There's nothing much we can do. We all knew it was going to come out eventually, granted this is a lot sooner than we expected and so we didn't have time to plan for it but really all we can do is just to stand by them both. We all need to stick together now. The Glee club...well most of us anyway... need to make sure that we're there to back them up as much as possible because I'm sure that things are going to get messy now that everything is out in the open." I stated as I too glanced around at the array of students surrounding us. _

_Mercedes just nodded her head before turning to her locker and beginning to prepare for the day. Nothing else was said, not even when we were joined by Artie, Tina, Rachael, Matt, Mike and Brittany as we waited for Puck and Finn to arrive, all of us mentally preparing ourselves as best we could for whatever would happen today._

xxxendflashbackxxx

So that's where we were, all of us loyal members of Glee showing a united front as we waited for our friends to arrive and as I caught the first sight of the mohawked teen that was Puck as he walked through the doors of William McKinley high, my hand tightened its grip on the strap of my messenger bag before I strolled towards the Jock's locker, our friends not far behind me.

* * *

Yay! A new chapter! This is a little shorter than usual but I like it. I hope you all enjoyed reading it and as always your comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Multi x


	7. Just Another Manic Monday

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee, just this little plunny here, there's a little bit of what you see during the episode in this chapter so I don't own that, just the stuff around it.

**Warning: **Eventual Slash so no likey no ready (take me out reference)

**Summary: **When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballads week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to the unsuspecting girl and while everyone else is focussed on supporting Finn and Quinn over the whole baby thing, Mercedes offers her hand in friendship to the boy in need through song. Taking note of Mercedes' advice he Puck uses his own ballad to tell the world just who he is and what, or rather who he wants. Meanwhile, Kurt tries to help Finn with the whole baby fiasco as he also battles with the crush he has for the quarterback, all of which is only complicated further when he overhears Mercedes and Puck talking. Puck/Kurt slash eventually.

**A/N: **Sorry it's been a while, I've just had several weeks of exams and a bit of a hectic start to my second year courses (we use the last few weeks of the school term after exams in our first year, where most others have an early beginning to the summer, to start our second year). However now I am on my summer holidays so I will be able to update a lot more frequently and hopefully get a massive chunk of this fic written and posted.

* * *

**Time To Face The Music**

_Just Another Manic Monday_

_xxx_

**Puck POV:**

I was running late this morning, I knew. Mom was working an early shift at the hospital this morning and without her there to literally yank me out of my bed I couldn't find the motivation to get up and face the hell that was waiting for me.

I didn't really notice anything different when I pulled up outside of school and walked across the parking lot, but then I spent most of the time lost in the what-ifs and the many different ways that today could pan out, so I had no idea what was waiting for me as I entered the building.

My locker was right next to the entrance so I didn't have far to walk, luckily, but as I approached it I was shocked to see Kurt, Mercedes and some of the other Gleeks waiting there for me. I quirked an eyebrow in question as I caught Kurt's gaze and was shocked when I saw the pity within those beautiful blue eyes but had little time to register it was even there before my sight was obstructed by a wave of slushie as it covered my face.

"Fag," I heard one of Karofsky's hockey guys say, followed by laughter as I wiped the slushie from my eyes. I stared after them as they walked past, their laughter still echoing back to me and for a moment I was frozen in my place..._they knew?_

I felt a hand latch onto my arm and soon I was being dragged towards the toilet by a determined Kurt, Mercedes striding along next to us, like you see those bodyguards do with the President, and I realised that's exactly what she was, she was there to fend off any and all attackers that might have presented themselves as we walked and she was ready to take the slushie facial herself if only to stop it hitting me. In that moment I felt like crying.

Kurt led me over to the sink once we were in the toilet, Mercedes thankfully still outside...guarding the door most likely.

"Take you shirt off," Kurt said gently as he turned the fawcett on and poured some soap into the sink.

I did as he asked, watching in a mixture of guilt and fascination as he went about cleaning my red-stained t-shirt with skilled hands...reminding me that I was one of the people that forced him into learning this skill, that gave him no choice but to adapt to having to clean slushie drenched clothes on a daily basis.

I felt the tears begin to fall then, away from the staring of the other students and faced with the hell I had put someone I really cared about through I could no longer hold them off, could no longer pretend as if I wasn't hurting. I felt safe around Kurt, I realised, as I leant against the wall, felt able to show my true emotions around him and know that he wouldn't mock me for it.

"Noah, are you okay?" I heard Kurt ask from closer than I'd expected and opening my eyes I saw that he was crouched down in front of me, his eyes full of concern as he placed his hand on my shoulder, whether to comfort me or to keep him steady I wasn't sure, but either way it felt nice.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked as I gazed into those beautiful blue eyes I'd fallen in love with two years ago, "You should hate me after all I've done to you."

"I did. Well, maybe hate is too strong a word, but I definitely disliked you for a long time. I never understood why you always picked on me so much more than the other unpopular kids, but then the other day I realised that why you were doing it. At first I hadn't believed it but then when I went home I remembered all the times that you'd looked at me with some emotion that I just couldn't place, but then you'd throw me in the dumpster or cover me in slushie and I'd forget all about that unknown emotion, but now I know what it was...pain. It hurt you more than it hurt me every time you threw me in the dumpster or ruined my clothes. Every time you did something to hurt me, it hurt you ten times more. So no I don't hate you, Noah. I hate that you felt you had to do those things to I don't know prove that you weren't gay, or maybe to get my attention...I'm not sure why you did it and I certainly don't like that you did, but I don't hate you for it." Kurt replied, his eyes shining with conviction...and was that care?

"Thank you," I whispered as I brought my hands up to wipe away my tears. Kurt just smiled as he stood up, holding a hand out to help me up before turning back to the sink.

"Now, you need to come and watch how I do this. Now that you're out I'm sure you're going to have a few more slushie facials than you're used to." Kurt said with a little laugh, and I thought it was perhaps the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard, well next to his singing of course, and I couldn't help feeling as if things would work themselves out; that everything was going to turn out okay.

_xxx_

The rest of my day passed much the same as it had started...badly. Luckily I didn't have to deal with another slushie facial, but the staring continued and I was slammed into the lockers as I walked between classes more times than I could count. It was a promise of the continued hell that was sure to follow in the next weeks I was sure, after all, I used to be one of those giving the hell to some poor, unsuspecting student and the realisation of what it was like to be on the receiving end brought a whole new level of respect to those students like Kurt who dealt with the bullying with their heads held high, for those students who didn't let it get to them too much, and a sadness for those who it had a far more detrimental effect on with a side of guilt for having ever made anyone feel how I did right then.

Nothing, not the slushie facial, the body slams or the guilt could compare to how I feel right now, however, as I walked into Glee and came face to face with Quinn and Santana. I felt glad, then, that I had chosen to walk with Mercedes and Kurt as I felt one hand on my arm and another grip hold of my hand, offering silent support for which I was incredibly grateful.

"How could you do this to me?" I whispered as I stared at Quinn, tears once again beginning to spill down my cheeks as the rest of the Glee club watched on. I was shocked of course to see that she too had tears in her eyes.

"How could I do this? How could you tell Finn about the baby? You promised me that you wouldn't tell him, that you would let me be happy." Quinn replied.

"I would have kept lying to Finn, even though it was tearing me up inside to go behind his back like that, because you were my best friend, because I trusted you, because I thought you cared about me as much as I cared about you, but then I find out that you were just trying to 'cure me' of being gay. You were manipulating me into becoming straight...why would you do that?"

"I wanted to save you. My dad always told me that anyone who was gay would go to hell and I didn't want you to go to hell, you're my best friend and I love you...but I realise now that my Dad isn't always right about things, I mean look what he did when he found out about my baby. I'm so sorry that I hurt you and about what I did today...I just wanted to make you feel how I did and I told Santana that I wished I could out you or something else that would hurt you as much as this did, I didn't think she would take me seriously. I had no idea she'd actually done it until I walked in this morning."

I couldn't speak then, couldn't believe what I was hearing, couldn't bring myself to believe her. Luckily I didn't have to as I felt a hand on my shoulder and looking up I saw Finn standing next to me.

"It's too late Quinn, you've already hurt people too much...sorry just doesn't cut it," Finn said giving my shoulder a squeeze before he looked back and Mr. Schue, "I think we should get on with practise now Mr. Schue, after all, we need as much rehearsal for sectionals as possible."

"Good idea Finn. Perhaps today we could just sing whatever comes to us, sing your feelings." Mr. Schue replied.

"Is it alright if I go first?" I asked, looking up at Mr. Schue, "I have something I'd like to sing. Finn, maybe you could sing it with me?" I finished, looking over at Finn.

I needed to get what I was feeling off my chest, and I had a feeling Finn did as well, but that wasn't the only reason I asked him to sing with me. I wanted to try and fix things between us, I wanted my best friend back and I knew this was what we would need to try and get back to that place we were before.

"Sure, no problem, you guys just set up." Mr. Schue replied with a little nod and an understanding gleam in his eyes.

I looked over at Finn and saw that he was confused but he also seemed to understand what my asking him meant and he nodded a little, moving towards where I was stood near the piano. I bent over a little to talk to Brad before straightening up and turning to face the rest of the Glee club, now sitting down, and preparing to sing.

I saw recognition in my friends' eyes as the intro began to play but I didn't focus on them. Instead I let my gaze land on Quinn and Santana, who were sat separate from the rest of the Glee club members, as I began to sing.

_I'm holding on your rope  
Got me ten feet off the ground  
And I'm hearing what you say  
But I just can't make a sound  
You tell me that you need me  
Then you go and cut me down  
But wait...  
You tell me that you're sorry  
Didn't think I'd turn around and say..._

When I came to the chorus I heard Finn join in beside me but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the crying girl who I'd once considered my best friend, hell I still did, still cared for her like a sister, after all, no matter what type it is, familial or romantic, you can't just turn love off like a light switch, and as I sang I felt my heart clench at the pain in her eyes, but at the same time I couldn't bring myself to forgive her.

_That it's too late to apologize, it's too late  
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late_

As I watched Finn singing to Quinn I could see the hurt he felt in his eyes and it only renewed my lack of interest in forgiving her, of forgiving myself for doing something that caused that sort of pain to someone I cared about. I felt the stab of guilt deep in my chest, the very same feeling I got as I watched Kurt clean my shirt earlier in the day and in that moment I realised just how lucky I was. How amazing it was that, despite all that I'd done to hurt them, both Finn and Kurt were prepared to forgive me, to look past all the wrong I'd done to them and help me, stand up for me and by me through all of this.

_I'd take another chance,_

_take a fall, take a shot for you  
And I need you like a heart needs a beat  
(But that's nothing new)Yeah yeah  
I loved you with a fire red, now it's turning blue  
And you say  
"Sorry" like the angel heaven let me think was you  
But I'm afraid..._

I felt like such a girl when I felt the sting of tears in my eyes, but luckily they didn't fall, although I knew that the people that really matter wouldn't think any less of me for it, but hey I have a reputation to try and hold onto.

_It's too late to apologize, it's too late  
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late  
Woahooo woah_

_It's too late to apologize, it's too late_  
_I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late_  
_I said it's too late to apologize, yeah yeah_  
_I said it's too late to apologize, a yeah_

_I'm holding on your rope_  
_Got me ten feet off the ground..._

The song was met with silence as it finished, fitting to the meaning, the intensity of it. Finn and I hurried to sit down and let Mr. Schue carry on with the rest of the practise.

"Thank you guys, that was very heartfelt. I think though that perhaps we should carry on with something a little more upbeat. This is a song I've been thinking about doing for a few weeks now, I think it's quite a fun little number and I'm sure you all know it." Mr. Schue said as he started handing out music.

"The Black-Eyed-Peas? Now that's what I'm talking about," Mercedes stated and I couldn't help but to smile at her infectious enthusiasm, whatever happens with Quinn or the rest of the school I know now that I'll have Mercedes and Kurt and maybe now even Finn to back me up.

* * *

Finally a chapter, it's a little shorter than I was hoping but oh well. I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to get back into writing, but hopefully the updates should be a bit more regular now that I'm not in school for the next six weeks. As always I hope you enjoyed it and your comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Multi x


	8. Crush

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Glee, just this little plunny here, there's a little bit of what you see during the episode in this chapter so I don't own that, just the stuff around it.

**Warning: **Eventual Slash so no likey no ready (take me out reference)

**Summary: **When Puck and Mercedes are paired together for ballads week Puck finds himself pouring his heart out to the unsuspecting girl and while everyone else is focussed on supporting Finn and Quinn over the whole baby thing, Mercedes offers her hand in friendship to the boy in need through song. Taking note of Mercedes' advice he Puck uses his own ballad to tell the world just who he is and what, or rather who he wants. Meanwhile, Kurt tries to help Finn with the whole baby fiasco as he also battles with the crush he has for the quarterback, all of which is only complicated further when he overhears Mercedes and Puck talking. Puck/Kurt slash eventually.

**A/N: OH MY GOD I'M ACTUALLY UPDATING! **Sorry for the wait, I know, almost ayear without an update. Please don't hate me :( A quick note- this chapter kind of merges the episodes from Mattress through to Theatricality. However, do not fear, that doesn't mean that there will be less chapters, as I am going to extend the time between theatricality and Regionals, when this fic will end. I can only really see this being about 15 chapters long...although I do plan to write a sequel! Anyway, to write this all as individual chapters for each episode/event would have been boring and you would have hated it! It's taken me a long time to work this out though. I got some serious writers block on like everything and it was literally just watching Born This Way this afternoon that knocked some sense into me and got me writing again! I hope you enjoy the rest of this, despite the really long hiatus! Love you all!

* * *

**Time To Face The Music**

_Crush_

_xxx_

**Kurt POV:**

Seeing Puck so vulnerable, so hurt that Monday morning had pulled on my heart strings. I know, now, how it feels to be betrayed—or at least hurt—by someone you thought was your friend. Just one of the many discoveries I've made over the last few weeks, I guess. They'd been so unbelievably manic that I'd barely had a chance to actually sit down and think about the feelings I got every time I so much as glanced the back of his head in the corridors at McKinley. Up until now I've been doing a good job of pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind. The high we'd all felt— and everyone else still felt, it was apparent— had dimmed, overcome by the hurt that Finn's comments had left behind and the general madness that was adjusting to my new family.

Somehow, through all of this, Puck has been a constant presence, not always the main focus of what was going on, but there anyway. Somehow, we'd become closer friends than I think either of us truly realised. When we'd been performing at sectionals, I hadn't been able to keep my eyes off him, and yet that had been completely forgotten by the time we'd left the stage and been swept up in the joy of winning.

Since being outed, Puck had found himself sitting with the rest of us Glee kids at lunch, rather than with the jocks, and he'd been attending all of his classes, so the time I spent around him almost doubled, meaning that he was there for pretty much all of the meaningless time at school as well as the bigger events.

He and Finn had been spending more time together since they'd talked properly about the baby-gate situation, so he'd sometimes come with Finn when he and Carole had dinner with me and my dad. Dad had been annoyed at first, but Carole and I had soon set him straight. Puck needed all of the support he could get at the minute, and if he wanted to find that in Finn and our new makeshift family, then that was fine by me...plus I kinda liked seeing him sat at the table opposite me, it'd given me a strange feeling, one that I'd ignored at the time, as I had been with anything to do with Puck. Carole had been adamant that he be allowed to keep coming as well, apparently he always had whenever he was finding things difficult at home...something that happened quite a bit evidently, and was a piece of information I'd promptly pushed from my mind at the time when a niggling, worried feeling crept over me. Indeed, he had kept coming over with the rest of the Hudson family and when my Dad had asked them to move in, Puck had helped Finn move his stuff into my room, well, _our_ room I guess.

While I still stand by the fact that my decision to get mine and Finn's parents together was one of my better schemes, what followed between us was definitely not something I'd ever planned for...or even thought possible. Through all the time I'd had a crush on him—and yes it was indeed a crush which I am now very much over, I mean that would just be creepy considering the fact that our parents are together and so we're basically brothers now—I'd always thought that Finn was a decent and kind person. He'd never once been nasty or mean to me while I was mooning over him and although I'd know it had bothered him, he always seemed to just accept it and not let it affect the friendship we'd developed through Glee. The day they'd moved in, though, had been a disaster in all kinds of ways. I myself had been dreading having to share a room with Finn. I know that a few weeks ago I'd have jumped at the chance, and to be honest I find that thought very creepy and all kinds of disturbing. However, now I was faced with the daunting fact that I would be sharing my beloved basement with another human being...another male who was likely very messy if the way he eats and the state of his clothes on several occasions was anything to go by. I'm a neat freak, and so the potential mess problem was a daunting one.

Despite that, though, I'd been determined to make Finn feel welcome. He was going to be my new 'brother' after all, and it was only right that I welcome him as such, besides I'd thought we were becoming closer friends now, after the whole baby-gate thing had happened. I'd spent a long time making the room somewhere I thought we could cohabit peacefully. I'd used a perfect mix of my brilliant fashion and Finn's more homely and masculine sensibilities. Needless to say it hadn't exactly gone down well. Well, that was kind of the understatement of the century.

_xxx_

I'd felt my heart break at the cruel words Finn had used, and watched in confusion as Finn went flying across the room, my dad and Puck stood just inside the room, anger pouring from both of them as they stared down at someone I'd thought was my friend. Dad's hand was on Puck's shoulder, quite heavily it had seemed and so I guess he had been holding onto him firmly. Puck, of course, had been the one to barrel into Finn and send him flying, so it seemed my Dad was keeping him routed to the spot, avoiding any more violence.

However, it was my Dad who barraged Finn with an onslaught of anger fuelled words before promptly kicking him out of the house. I'd barely noticed then, but in that moment I'd started to fall for Puck just a little more, the way he'd come to protect me from Finn had warmed my heart. However, it had been overshadowed at that time by the hurt and mistrust, and then Finn's apology in the form of his dress-wearing, knight-in-shining-armour routine when I was surrounded by bullies later that day.

Puck had been the true hero that day, protecting me from the emotional hurt I suffered at Finn's hands, after all, I'd been used to the bullying I received at school, and Finn standing up to them once had done little to curb their enthusiasm to carry on the rest of the week. Things between me and Finn were still awkward, at home more than anywhere else. Although we were no longer sharing a room thanks to my dad, there was still an odd feeling that had settled over our makeshift family, broken only by the times that Puck came for dinner—it seemed to me anyway. This was probably because Puck had stopped coming over to hang out with Finn, but with me instead. Finn had been confused at first, but after the two had disappeared off for some secret conversation before dinner one evening. Finn had come back looked especially chastised and a little pouty even, whilst Puck merely looked a little serious, receiving a nod of approval from my dad and not relaxing until his eyes locked with mine. Only then did the tension in his body ease, and the deep frown that had creased his brow and set his jaw in a hard line, softened into a stunningly breath taking smile, his eyes shining.

I think I started to fall some more then as well. No one had ever looked at me like that before. It made me feel special. It made me feel loved. It had warmed my heart and it had transformed the sexy as hell badass Puck, into the softer, gentler, beautiful boy I'd come to know as Noah gradually over the last few weeks. The boy, I now realised, I was falling in love with.

_xxx_

The realisation had hit yesterday evening. We'd all decided that we needed a glee night out after all the crap that had gone on over the last few weeks, so we'd all set out to go bowling after school. I personally hadn't thought it was a good idea, I mean those places were just disgusting, but luckily I'd bought my own pair of shoes when I'd been forced to go with my dad, Finn and Carole the second time. So, despite the revolting state of the bowling alley I trudged along with the rest of the glee club to spend some quality 'bonding time' as Rachel called it.

I never even noticed the state of the bowling alley once I was in the presence of 'protective dad' Puck. Although Puck was still incredibly angry with Quinn—I mean who wouldn't be after what she'd done to him?—he hovered around her to the point where she was snapping at him to just calm down and enjoy himself, which he'd done reluctantly, still darting glances at the mother of his baby every now and again, and occasionally going so far as to reach out and lay a hand on her stomach.

I watched in awe at this attentive attitude he was showing. I knew he was going to be keeping the baby, despite Quinn being adamant that she wanted nothing to do with the child. He'd all but demanded as such from Quinn the week after her and Santana had outed him. I mean that thought alone, the fact that Puck was prepared to raise his baby on his own, was awe inspiring enough, but to watch him morph into this completely different person, more of the loving Noah than I'd ever seen before, was stunning. It was then that I'd realised that he was slowly taking ownership of my heart, even if he had no idea that it was happening. It had scared the hell out of me.

_xxx_

Now, here I was sitting at the dinner table on a Saturday night, Finn and Carole sat opposite me, Dad at the head of the table, while Puck sat next to me, the warmth of his body spreading into mine, my stomach doing somersaults every time his arm accidentally brushed mine, or his eyes locked with mine. I was going to say something to him tonight, once we were alone in my basement. We'd taken to just hanging out down there, playing on my x-box—that had surprised him I can tell you—or watching movies when he'd been round pretty much every day this week, his and Finn's relationship still a little precarious, from both sides. They were best friends, so I hope that they will be able to restore it after everything that's happened, just like I hope Finn will sort out whatever his problem is about me being gay. I desperately want to have a better relationship with my quasi-brother.

As I set my knife and fork down on my plate, I let out a small sigh, the nerves building up, causing butterflies in my stomach, as I thought about finally admitting to the one thing I'd been ignoring—more like point black refusing to acknowledge— that I wanted Noah Puckerman has my boyfriend. I just hope I wasn't too late. After all, I'd been aware of his feelings for me for a long time, I just hope they haven't faded over these last weeks.

I smiled at my Dad and Carole, and waved at Finn as I stood up, taking my plate through to the kitchen to place in the dishwasher, Puck hot on my heels. I was shocked when I felt his warm, hard body press up against mine from behind as I stood before the dishwasher, cutlery held limply in my hand. His nose bumped gently against the side of my neck before his chin settled on my shoulder.

"I can't keep ignoring this, Kurt," he whispered against my ear, his warm breath tickling the skin there and making me shiver in delight.

"I know," I replied. "I can't either."

"Good," he murmured, his lips ghosting across the skin of my neck as his arms wrapped around my waist, holding me to his firm body. Those strong arms made me feel safe, made me feel like I would be alright now, no matter what was thrown my way...so long as I had this boy by my side.

I slid my own arms over Puck's, feeling the strong muscles which rippled under my touch, before I linked my fingers with his. It was such a perfect moment. I felt so free, now that I'd finally given in to my feelings. Being close to Puck like this for the first time feels wonderful, perfect, and I can't understand why it's taken me so long to actually realise how much I really like him, why I haven't been doing this all along.

The moment is ruined when we hear someone clearing their throat behind us. Puck moves away from me with lightning speed, giving me room to turn around and see my dad standing in the doorway, his gaze flicking between me and Puck. I chance a glance out of the corner of my eye to Puck and see that he's looking down at his feet, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck something, I'd noticed over the last few weeks, that he did when he was nervous. It was cute.

I looked back at my dad, not shying away from his gaze when his angry eyes bore into mine, his protective streak well and truly rearing its ugly head at this situation. All of a sudden, though, it changes, softens a little when he looks at me, wary still, but not quite as angry.

He moves further into the room, heading straight for Puck and I have to physically stop myself from moving to stand between them. I know my dad is protective and can be quite scary, but he won't hurt Puck if he knows it'll hurt me as well. Of that I am sure.

He stands right in front of Puck, who is no longer looking at his feet. Instead, he's meeting my dad's stare head on, not shying away from his protective nature. From where I stand I can see my dad's gaze assessing Puck, trying to see whether he's worthy of me or not, and I feel nervous and happy at the same time. It's nice to know that my dad cares so much about me, but I'm nervous that he will disapprove of my choice. I know that I would want to see what this is between me and Puck can lead to whether my dad approves or not, although the latter would hinder that, and it would hurt...a lot. Puck is a good guy...an amazing guy really, and I hope that my dad can see at least a flicker of that in him now.

I watch, slightly in horror, as my dad reaches forward and grabs hold of Puck's shirt, pulling him forward slightly. My breath catches as I wait to hear the verdict my dad gives.

"If you hurt my boy, Puckerman, you'll find yourself nicely acquainted with that shotgun of mine you so admire," He stated.

"Never," Puck replied, his voice so full of conviction that I couldn't help the smile and the light blush that spread across my face.

Nodding, dad let him go with a little shove, before turning to look at me. All I can see in his eyes then is love and acceptance, and it lightens my heart to know that I won't have to fight him on this. He's about to walk out of the kitchen, having put his and Carole's plates in the dishwasher, when he stops and turns to look at us both. He raises a finger to point at each of us accusingly.

"Leave the door open, huh?" he all but demands. "I may be accepting of you dating my boy, Puckerman, but I won't have any funny business under my roof." With one final nod, he turns and makes a quick exit from the awkwardly tense kitchen.

Once he's gone, I turn to look at Puck, and can't help but to laugh a little at the part shocked, part scared and part relived look on his face.

"Hey, it's not funny, Kurt," he complained, his eyes dancing with a little joyfully as he looks at me, "Your dad is one scary dude."

"I know," I replied happily, "You handled the situation brilliantly, Noah."

"Oh God, I love it when you say that," he moans.

"Say what?" I ask, the light blush I'd had before, darkening I could tell, as it flooded my cheeks and spread down my neck.

"Noah."

"Well, it's your name, isn't it?"

"Well, yea, but no-one's called me Noah since I was ten, well everyone apart from my mom and sister. I like it," he replied happily. He took a step forward, edging his way towards me across the kitchen.

My breath hitched, as I looked into his eyes to see nothing but lust, and something which might have been love, but I couldn't tell, shining there. I felt heat spread through my body under that gaze. It felt amazing to be looked at by Puck, to be desired so strongly.

As he moved closer, his hand reached forward to cup my cheek and he smiled as I leant into the touch.

"You're so beautiful, Kurt," he whispered, almost reverently, as his eyes bore into mine.

"You're not so bad yourself," I muttered back, barely even aware that I was actually speaking. He leant forward and his lips brushed against my cheek, pressed lightly on the tip of my nose, before finally meshing with my own in a sweet and very gentle kiss...my first...and it was glorious.

As we broke apart; our breathing slightly laboured, our foreheads resting against one another's, there was a light tap on the open door. Looking past Puck, I saw Finn standing in the doorway looking more than a little awkward. My eyebrow quirked up in question as I watched him fidget slightly. Finally, he seemed to make a decision and he stepped further into the room, his gaze moving between Puck and me.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt, but I have some things that I need to talk to you both about," he stated. "Firstly, I wanted to apologise again for what I said to you Kurt. I was a complete ass and I really didn't mean it, I was just taking my own personal shit and laying it on you instead...as if it was all your fault. I mean how I managed to convince myself of that, I'll never know..."

"Finn, you're rambling," I commented, my curiosity piqued by what he was saying.

"Sorry. What I mean to say—and I really can't believe that I'm about to admit this out loud—is that I think I may be bisexual."

I felt my eyes widen at this, my gaze flickering between an equally shocked Puck and a confused and—scared? — Finn. Well, that one had to be about the farthest thing from what I'd expected to hear from Finn.

"I know...shocker right? Well, it sure as hell shocked me I can tell you. I managed to convince myself it wasn't real for a bit. That it was just your gayness rubbing off on me or something...as if. It's confusing as hell, especially because of just who it is I seem to be developing feelings for, but I'm really sorry I reacted that way to the room. I really did like it Kurt, which was the problem, I think. After all, it was a little bit gay, and I found myself thinking that it was about as gay as I am, and then that freaked the hell out of me and I started to panic and then the next thing you know, I'm spouting off some really nasty crap and Puck's knocking me on my ass...which I totally deserved, by the way," He rambled, directing that last comment to Puck more than myself.

I just stared at him for a moment, completely dumbfounded by what he was saying; there was only one thing that I could think of in that moment.

"Am I being Punk'd?" I whispered.

"No, Kurt, this is definitely real. I'm totally a bit bendy and am basically coming out to you right now."

"Okay..." I breathed out, completely overwhelmed by the continuous onslaught of massive events taking place in this kitchen. "So, you're Bi?"

"Yep."

"And you were frightened, so that's why you called me a fag?"

"Uh-huh. I feel really bad about that though."

I stared at my quasi-brother for a moment, with absolutely no clue what to do with this latest information. I was drawn out of my reverie by Puck's voice speaking up for the first time since Finn had joined us in the kitchen.

"I'm glad you've worked this shit out, dude," he said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he looked at his best friend. "I always thought there was a touch of rainbow to you."

I couldn't help the laugh that burst from me at that comment. "What a wonderful way of wording that, Noah," I stated happily, unable to really dwell on the whats and whys. We'd just have to go with the flow from now and just see what happens. "I'm happy for you, Finn." I added, smiling up at the taller boy. I stepped away from Puck and walked over to Finn, wrapping my arms around his waist in what I hoped was a supportive and brotherly hug...I wasn't sure, though, because I'd never had a brother...or even a really close male friend with whom to share such a thing. It seemed to do the trick though, because I felt Finn's arms move to wrap around me for a moment before we broke apart.

"So..."I said, trying to move away from the almost uncomfortably loving moment, "Did I hear you mention something about feelings...for a boy?"

Finn blushed, ducking his head against my question, obviously shy about these newly developing feelings.

"Yea, I guess I kinda have a crush on someone, although it's kinda returned...so I don't know if you can call it a crush...aren't those normally unrequited?"

"It doesn't sound like a crush to me," I replied, "Not if you both feel the same. It sounds more like the beginnings of a relationship to me. It may be in its very tentative stage, the feelings not yet fully realised, or even spoken about, but it's there. Who is he, then? Is it someone we know? Someone at McKinley?"

"Yea, it is someone at school...although if you think me being a member of the pink posse is a shock, he'll knock you for six."

"Okay, seriously, where the hell are you guys getting these names? 'Touch of rainbow'? 'Pink posse?' Anyway, who is it then? You can't say something like that and then just leave us in suspense." I stated, my eyebrow raised, intrigued as to just who had caught Finn's eye, and who else in our god awful school could be gay.

Finn mumbled something altogether indecipherable.

"What was that Finn?" Puck asked; the amusement evident in his voice as he watched Finn squirm uncomfortably.

"I said," he replied, looking at us both with equal parts defiance and fear, "Dave Karofsky."

"Okay, no you're going to have to run that one passed me again, because if I'm not mistaken, I could've sword you just said Dave Karofsky." I muttered in complete shock. The boy hadn't been lying about completely addling our brains with that little revelation.

"No, Kurt, you heard correctly. I know, it's completely nuts. I can't really believe it myself, but it's true."

"How the hell did that one happen, dude?" Puck asked.

"Um, that's a really long story."

"Maybe we should take this somewhere more comfortable? I think I need to sit down, and this kitchen has seen enough big reveals tonight to last a lifetime."

"Yea, that's a really good idea."

"Shall we head down to my basement?" I asked, receiving nods of agreement from the other two before leading the way out of the kitchen.

_xxx_

As we were about to enter my basement room, I heard my dad calling from the front room.

"Leave the door open, Kurt." He yelled through to us. "No funny business, Puckerman." He added.

"Dad, Finn's coming down with us," I replied, exacerbated.

"Still, I want the door to stay open at all times."

"Fine, dad, we'll leave the door open." I sighed as I lead the way down the stairs and into my beautifully airy and stunningly modern—having returned it to its original state before the Finn disaster—room. I took a seat on my bed, Puck sitting next to me while Finn sat on the small sofa in the corner, looking at Puck and I a little warily, before nodding and setting into the story of him and DAVE KAROFSKY—sorry, I'm still not over the shock of that bit yet.

"Well...you see...it was after school had finished for the day. There wasn't glee, or football or any other club running that night, and my head had been spinning about all of the stuff going on with mom and Burt, all the Rachel crap and the response I was starting to get about guys as well as girls...like when Jesse St. James bent over that time...I mean I know he's a total dick, but he's super hot..." he blushed a little as he realised he'd been rambling, but I just laughed a little.

"You're not wrong, Finn, you're not wrong," I replied, smirking a little when Puck shoved me gently with his shoulder. "What, you can't say that boy doesn't have a fine ass." Puck just pouted a little, glaring at me.

"Oh, come on, you know he's not as hot as you," I placated, a warm feeling buzzing in my stomach when his expression turned into a megawatt smile instead, his eyes shining happily, a hint of lust still lingering there and making me blush. I bumped our shoulders together, moving my hand so that our fingertips brushed together lightly before turning my attention back on Finn, who was looking at us with an almost bemused expression.

"Anyway..." he said, shaking his head as if to clear it, "I was there on my own and I'd decided to use the time to practise that week's glee assignment...I don't really remember what the song I was going to sing originally was, because it changes that day. I walked into the choir room to find Dave sitting in there on his own, playing one of the band's spare acoustic guitars and singing. He has a really great voice by the way...really deep and just...ahem...yea, anyway," he muttered that last, blushing heavily, "I was completely shocked by what I was seeing...he was crying while he sang. It was heartbreaking hearing and seeing the emotion pouring out of him as he sang...he looked so lonely and scared. I didn't really think about what I was doing then. One moment I was stood in the doorway watching him and the next I was kneeling in front of him, the guitar on the ground next to us as I held onto him as he literally fell apart in my arms."

Finn zoned out for a moment then, obviously reliving that very moment, and the emotions playing across his face pulled at my heartstrings and I couldn't stop the tear that spilled down my cheek. I felt something brush against my hand and looked down to see Puck's covering mine, squeezing it lightly in support. I looked up at his face, smiling slightly in appreciation before I turned my hand over and laced our fingers together. Our hands matched perfectly, and for a moment I was lost in the feel of his warm hand in mine.

"He didn't fight me," Finn continued, "He just let me hold him as he cried it out, until he couldn't cry anymore, and then he just started talking. I think he'd reached the end of his tether, you know, after all the bullying and the pretending and the general hate that he was feeling about his life. I just sat there and listened for the longest time. It must have been hours that we sat there holding each other. I told him stuff, too, I thought it was only fair that I did, and it had felt so right to share that stuff with him. I don't think either of us really realised what was going on then, we were too overwhelmed. We kept spending time together after then, and I started to develop feelings for him. I'd already been noticing guys in a different way for a while, but I'd never actually felt anything other than friendship for one before. It was scary as hell, I can tell you...and then he kissed me. I was so fucking shocked that I ran away. That was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done...and I've done some pretty stupid things in my life, you know. He hasn't spoken to me since, it's been like a whole week and I fucking miss him." He took a deep breath as he finished talking, finally running out of steam.

"Well, shit, dude," Puck stated, "You really like him don't you?"

"Yea, I really do."

I was suddenly struck with a moment of clarity.

"He's who inspired the whole 'Help' performance, isn't he? None of us could work out why you'd chosen that song for the 'song who reminds you of someone special' task. Schue thought that maybe you'd misunderstood the point, but now it makes complete sense."

"Yea, he was. That week all I could think of was how I needed help with my feelings for him, and how I was struggling to find ways to help him as well."

"Well, it sounds like right up until you ran away, you were doing a pretty good job." I said kindly, feeling a sense of pride for my quasi-brother at the way he'd handled the situation. "I have to agree, though, running away after he kissed you, when he was probably feeling scared as heel and very vulnerable, was definitely not your finest hour. You'll just have to do something to rectify it though, won't you?"

"Yea, I know. I just don't know how I can, when he's not talking to me."

"Well, I don't think we're going to work out anything tonight. Why don't we all go to bed and then we can try and brainstorm some ideas tomorrow, we do have all day, after all."

"Yea, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Kurt," Finn replied, smiling slightly, his eyes a little wet from the emotional conversation. "Oh, there's one more thing I needed to ask Puck, actually. It's probably going to sound really strange, but just hear me out, okay?"

At Puck's nod and quirk of an eyebrow, he continued.

"Well, when I thought that Quinn's baby was mine, I really started to love her, and that hasn't gone away at all. I know that she's your baby, but I was hoping that maybe I could raise her with you?" He asked; his face awash with hope and vulnerability.

I looked between him and Puck, my hand squeezing the latter's in support as he stared at Finn, eyes wide, as he contemplated what the other boy had asked. Personally, I thought it was a wonderful idea, and was shocked at the mature and intelligent thought from Finn. Perhaps he was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for.

"Um..." Puck started, "I'll need to think about this a bit, I've barely got a plan for just me raising her yet; all I know is that I want to keep her. I let you know though?"

Finn nodded, slightly dejected, but still hopeful.

"Well, I guess I'll head up to bed then. I'm kinda exhausted after all of that." He stated, smiling at us both a little, before making his way back upstairs.

_xxx_

Once he'd gone, I let out a sigh of relief. Finn wasn't the only one who was exhausted.

"I need sleep," I moaned as I lay back on my bed, fully prepared to just say screw it to my Marc Jacobs and Prada attire and just sleep in my clothes, shoes and all, but was decidedly distracted by a body easing down on top of my own.

I was wide awake again almost immediately, eyes wide at the amazing feeling of having Puck lying on top of me.

"Can I just hold you while we sleep tonight? Now that I've got you, I really don't want to be even a centimetre away from you." Puck whispered against my lips. I felt my breath hitch and the pure honesty behind that statement and merely nodded in response before I felt his lips brush gently across mine. "Come on, princess," Puck stated as he sat up once again, let's get changed and go to sleep, I'm fucking tired."

It didn't take long for us to get ready for bed...mostly because I didn't bother with my usual skin care routine...something that I'll probably complain about in the morning, but really can't bring myself to worry about tonight.

Once I was in my pyjamas, I climbed into my bed, Puck already there waiting for me, and snuggled into the warmth of his body. It didn't take long for me to fall into a peaceful sleep, the sound of Puck's heartbeat from where I lay with my head on his chest, lulling me into a beautiful dream.

* * *

So there we go, another chapter, finally! Comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.

Multi x


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